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10 <title>Debian Policy Manual</title>
11 <author><qref id="authors">The Debian Policy Mailing List</qref></author>
12 <version>version &version;, &date;</version>
15 This manual describes the policy requirements for the Debian
16 GNU/Linux distribution. This includes the structure and
17 contents of the Debian archive and several design issues of
18 the operating system, as well as technical requirements that
19 each package must satisfy to be included in the distribution.
24 Copyright © 1996,1997,1998 Ian Jackson
25 and Christian Schwarz.
28 These are the copyright dates of the original Policy manual.
29 Since then, this manual has been updated by many others. No
30 comprehensive collection of copyright notices for subsequent
35 This manual is free software; you may redistribute it and/or
36 modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
37 as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version
38 2, or (at your option) any later version.
42 This is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
43 <em>without any warranty</em>; without even the implied
44 warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular
45 purpose. See the GNU General Public License for more
50 A copy of the GNU General Public License is available as
51 <file>/usr/share/common-licenses/GPL</file> in the Debian GNU/Linux
52 distribution or on the World Wide Web at
53 <url id="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html"
54 name="the GNU General Public Licence">. You can also
55 obtain it by writing to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
56 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
64 <heading>About this manual</heading>
66 <heading>Scope</heading>
68 This manual describes the policy requirements for the Debian
69 GNU/Linux distribution. This includes the structure and
70 contents of the Debian archive and several design issues of the
71 operating system, as well as technical requirements that
72 each package must satisfy to be included in the
77 This manual also describes Debian policy as it relates to
78 creating Debian packages. It is not a tutorial on how to build
79 packages, nor is it exhaustive where it comes to describing
80 the behavior of the packaging system. Instead, this manual
81 attempts to define the interface to the package management
82 system that the developers have to be conversant with.<footnote>
83 Informally, the criteria used for inclusion is that the
84 material meet one of the following requirements:
85 <taglist compact="compact">
86 <tag>Standard interfaces</tag>
88 The material presented represents an interface to
89 the packaging system that is mandated for use, and
90 is used by, a significant number of packages, and
91 therefore should not be changed without peer
92 review. Package maintainers can then rely on this
93 interface not changing, and the package management
94 software authors need to ensure compatibility with
95 this interface definition. (Control file and
96 changelog file formats are examples.)
98 <tag>Chosen Convention</tag>
100 If there are a number of technically viable choices
101 that can be made, but one needs to select one of
102 these options for inter-operability. The version
103 number format is one example.
106 Please note that these are not mutually exclusive;
107 selected conventions often become parts of standard
113 The footnotes present in this manual are
114 merely informative, and are not part of Debian policy itself.
118 The appendices to this manual are not necessarily normative,
119 either. Please see <ref id="pkg-scope"> for more information.
123 In the normative part of this manual,
124 the words <em>must</em>, <em>should</em> and
125 <em>may</em>, and the adjectives <em>required</em>,
126 <em>recommended</em> and <em>optional</em>, are used to
127 distinguish the significance of the various guidelines in
128 this policy document. Packages that do not conform to the
129 guidelines denoted by <em>must</em> (or <em>required</em>)
130 will generally not be considered acceptable for the Debian
131 distribution. Non-conformance with guidelines denoted by
132 <em>should</em> (or <em>recommended</em>) will generally be
133 considered a bug, but will not necessarily render a package
134 unsuitable for distribution. Guidelines denoted by
135 <em>may</em> (or <em>optional</em>) are truly optional and
136 adherence is left to the maintainer's discretion.
140 These classifications are roughly equivalent to the bug
141 severities <em>serious</em> (for <em>must</em> or
142 <em>required</em> directive violations), <em>minor</em>,
143 <em>normal</em> or <em>important</em>
144 (for <em>should</em> or <em>recommended</em> directive
145 violations) and <em>wishlist</em> (for <em>optional</em>
148 Compare RFC 2119. Note, however, that these words are
149 used in a different way in this document.
154 Much of the information presented in this manual will be
155 useful even when building a package which is to be
156 distributed in some other way or is intended for local use
162 <heading>New versions of this document</heading>
165 This manual is distributed via the Debian package
166 <package><url name="debian-policy"
167 id="http://packages.debian.org/debian-policy"></package>
168 (<httpsite>packages.debian.org</httpsite>
169 <httppath>/debian-policy</httppath>).
173 The current version of this document is also available from
174 the Debian web mirrors at
175 <tt><url name="/doc/debian-policy/"
176 id="http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/"></tt>.
178 <httpsite>www.debian.org</httpsite>
179 <httppath>/doc/debian-policy/</httppath>)
180 Also available from the same directory are several other
181 formats: <file>policy.html.tar.gz</file>
182 (<httppath>/doc/debian-policy/policy.html.tar.gz</httppath>),
183 <file>policy.pdf.gz</file>
184 (<httppath>/doc/debian-policy/policy.pdf.gz</httppath>)
185 and <file>policy.ps.gz</file>
186 (<httppath>/doc/debian-policy/policy.ps.gz</httppath>).
190 The <package>debian-policy</package> package also includes the file
191 <file>upgrading-checklist.txt.gz</file> which indicates policy
192 changes between versions of this document.
197 <heading>Authors and Maintainers</heading>
200 Originally called "Debian GNU/Linux Policy Manual", this
201 manual was initially written in 1996 by Ian Jackson.
202 It was revised on November 27th, 1996 by David A. Morris.
203 Christian Schwarz added new sections on March 15th, 1997,
204 and reworked/restructured it in April-July 1997.
205 Christoph Lameter contributed the "Web Standard".
206 Julian Gilbey largely restructured it in 2001.
210 Since September 1998, the responsibility for the contents of
211 this document lies on the <url name="debian-policy mailing list"
212 id="mailto:debian-policy@lists.debian.org">. Proposals
213 are discussed there and inserted into policy after a certain
214 consensus is established.
215 <!-- insert shameless policy-process plug here eventually -->
216 The actual editing is done by a group of maintainers that have
217 no editorial powers. These are the current maintainers:
220 <item>Julian Gilbey</item>
221 <item>Branden Robinson</item>
222 <item>Josip Rodin</item>
223 <item>Manoj Srivastava</item>
228 While the authors of this document have tried hard to avoid
229 typos and other errors, these do still occur. If you discover
230 an error in this manual or if you want to give any
231 comments, suggestions, or criticisms please send an email to
232 the Debian Policy List,
233 <email>debian-policy@lists.debian.org</email>, or submit a
234 bug report against the <tt>debian-policy</tt> package.
238 Please do not try to reach the individual authors or maintainers
239 of the Policy Manual regarding changes to the Policy.
244 <heading>Related documents</heading>
247 There are several other documents other than this Policy Manual
248 that are necessary to fully understand some Debian policies and
253 The external "sub-policy" documents are referred to in:
254 <list compact="compact">
255 <item><ref id="fhs"></item>
256 <item><ref id="virtual_pkg"></item>
257 <item><ref id="menus"></item>
258 <item><ref id="mime"></item>
259 <item><ref id="perl"></item>
260 <item><ref id="maintscriptprompt"></item>
261 <item><ref id="emacs"></item>
266 In addition to those, which carry the weight of policy, there
267 is the Debian Developer's Reference. This document describes
268 procedures and resources for Debian developers, but it is
269 <em>not</em> normative; rather, it includes things that don't
270 belong in the Policy, such as best practices for developers.
274 The Developer's Reference is available in the
275 <package>developers-reference</package> package.
276 It's also available from the Debian web mirrors at
277 <tt><url name="/doc/developers-reference/"
278 id="http://www.debian.org/doc/developers-reference/"></tt>.
282 <sect id="definitions">
283 <heading>Definitions</heading>
286 The following terms are used in this Policy Manual:
290 The character encoding specified by ANSI X3.4-1986 and its
291 predecessor standards, referred to in MIME as US-ASCII, and
292 corresponding to an encoding in eight bits per character of
293 the first 128 <url id="http://www.unicode.org/"
294 name="Unicode"> characters, with the eighth bit always zero.
298 The transformation format (sometimes called encoding) of
299 <url id="http://www.unicode.org/" name="Unicode"> defined by
300 <url id="http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3629.txt"
301 name="RFC 3629">. UTF-8 has the useful property of having
302 ASCII as a subset, so any text encoded in ASCII is trivially
312 <heading>The Debian Archive</heading>
315 The Debian GNU/Linux system is maintained and distributed as a
316 collection of <em>packages</em>. Since there are so many of
317 them (currently well over 15000), they are split into
318 <em>sections</em> and given <em>priorities</em> to simplify
319 the handling of them.
323 The effort of the Debian project is to build a free operating
324 system, but not every package we want to make accessible is
325 <em>free</em> in our sense (see the Debian Free Software
326 Guidelines, below), or may be imported/exported without
327 restrictions. Thus, the archive is split into areas<footnote>
328 The Debian archive software uses the term "component" internally
329 and in the Release file format to refer to the division of an
330 archive. The Debian Social Contract simply refers to "areas."
331 This document uses terminology similar to the Social Contract.
332 </footnote> based on their licenses and other restrictions.
336 The aims of this are:
338 <list compact="compact">
339 <item>to allow us to make as much software available as we can</item>
340 <item>to allow us to encourage everyone to write free software,
342 <item>to allow us to make it easy for people to produce
343 CD-ROMs of our system without violating any licenses,
344 import/export restrictions, or any other laws.</item>
349 The <em>main</em> archive area forms the <em>Debian GNU/Linux
354 Packages in the other archive areas (<tt>contrib</tt>,
355 <tt>non-free</tt>) are not considered to be part of the Debian
356 distribution, although we support their use and provide
357 infrastructure for them (such as our bug-tracking system and
358 mailing lists). This Debian Policy Manual applies to these
363 <heading>The Debian Free Software Guidelines</heading>
365 The Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG) form our
366 definition of "free software". These are:
368 <tag>1. Free Redistribution
371 The license of a Debian component may not restrict any
372 party from selling or giving away the software as a
373 component of an aggregate software distribution
374 containing programs from several different
375 sources. The license may not require a royalty or
376 other fee for such sale.
381 The program must include source code, and must allow
382 distribution in source code as well as compiled form.
384 <tag>3. Derived Works
387 The license must allow modifications and derived
388 works, and must allow them to be distributed under the
389 same terms as the license of the original software.
391 <tag>4. Integrity of The Author's Source Code
394 The license may restrict source-code from being
395 distributed in modified form <em>only</em> if the
396 license allows the distribution of "patch files"
397 with the source code for the purpose of modifying the
398 program at build time. The license must explicitly
399 permit distribution of software built from modified
400 source code. The license may require derived works to
401 carry a different name or version number from the
402 original software. (This is a compromise. The Debian
403 Project encourages all authors to not restrict any
404 files, source or binary, from being modified.)
406 <tag>5. No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups
409 The license must not discriminate against any person
412 <tag>6. No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor
415 The license must not restrict anyone from making use
416 of the program in a specific field of endeavor. For
417 example, it may not restrict the program from being
418 used in a business, or from being used for genetic
421 <tag>7. Distribution of License
424 The rights attached to the program must apply to all
425 to whom the program is redistributed without the need
426 for execution of an additional license by those
429 <tag>8. License Must Not Be Specific to Debian
432 The rights attached to the program must not depend on
433 the program's being part of a Debian system. If the
434 program is extracted from Debian and used or
435 distributed without Debian but otherwise within the
436 terms of the program's license, all parties to whom
437 the program is redistributed must have the same
438 rights as those that are granted in conjunction with
441 <tag>9. License Must Not Contaminate Other Software
444 The license must not place restrictions on other
445 software that is distributed along with the licensed
446 software. For example, the license must not insist
447 that all other programs distributed on the same medium
448 must be free software.
450 <tag>10. Example Licenses
453 The "GPL," "BSD," and "Artistic" licenses are examples of
454 licenses that we consider <em>free</em>.
461 <heading>Archive areas</heading>
464 <heading>The main archive area</heading>
467 Every package in <em>main</em> must comply with the DFSG
468 (Debian Free Software Guidelines).
472 In addition, the packages in <em>main</em>
473 <list compact="compact">
475 must not require a package outside of <em>main</em>
476 for compilation or execution (thus, the package must
477 not declare a "Depends", "Recommends", or
478 "Build-Depends" relationship on a non-<em>main</em>
482 must not be so buggy that we refuse to support them,
486 must meet all policy requirements presented in this
495 <heading>The contrib archive area</heading>
498 Every package in <em>contrib</em> must comply with the DFSG.
502 In addition, the packages in <em>contrib</em>
503 <list compact="compact">
505 must not be so buggy that we refuse to support them,
509 must meet all policy requirements presented in this
517 Examples of packages which would be included in
518 <em>contrib</em> are:
519 <list compact="compact">
521 free packages which require <em>contrib</em>,
522 <em>non-free</em> packages or packages which are not
523 in our archive at all for compilation or execution,
527 wrapper packages or other sorts of free accessories for
534 <sect1 id="non-free">
535 <heading>The non-free archive area</heading>
538 Packages must be placed in <em>non-free</em> if they are
539 not compliant with the DFSG or are encumbered by patents
540 or other legal issues that make their distribution
545 In addition, the packages in <em>non-free</em>
546 <list compact="compact">
548 must not be so buggy that we refuse to support them,
552 must meet all policy requirements presented in this
553 manual that it is possible for them to meet.
555 It is possible that there are policy
556 requirements which the package is unable to
557 meet, for example, if the source is
558 unavailable. These situations will need to be
559 handled on a case-by-case basis.
568 <sect id="pkgcopyright">
569 <heading>Copyright considerations</heading>
572 Every package must be accompanied by a verbatim copy of its
573 copyright information and distribution license in the file
574 <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/copyright</file>
575 (see <ref id="copyrightfile"> for further details).
579 We reserve the right to restrict files from being included
580 anywhere in our archives if
581 <list compact="compact">
583 their use or distribution would break a law,
586 there is an ethical conflict in their distribution or
590 we would have to sign a license for them, or
593 their distribution would conflict with other project
600 Programs whose authors encourage the user to make
601 donations are fine for the main distribution, provided
602 that the authors do not claim that not donating is
603 immoral, unethical, illegal or something similar; in such
604 a case they must go in <em>non-free</em>.
608 Packages whose copyright permission notices (or patent
609 problems) do not even allow redistribution of binaries
610 only, and where no special permission has been obtained,
611 must not be placed on the Debian FTP site and its mirrors
616 Note that under international copyright law (this applies
617 in the United States, too), <em>no</em> distribution or
618 modification of a work is allowed without an explicit
619 notice saying so. Therefore a program without a copyright
620 notice <em>is</em> copyrighted and you may not do anything
621 to it without risking being sued! Likewise if a program
622 has a copyright notice but no statement saying what is
623 permitted then nothing is permitted.
627 Many authors are unaware of the problems that restrictive
628 copyrights (or lack of copyright notices) can cause for
629 the users of their supposedly-free software. It is often
630 worthwhile contacting such authors diplomatically to ask
631 them to modify their license terms. However, this can be a
632 politically difficult thing to do and you should ask for
633 advice on the <tt>debian-legal</tt> mailing list first, as
638 When in doubt about a copyright, send mail to
639 <email>debian-legal@lists.debian.org</email>. Be prepared
640 to provide us with the copyright statement. Software
641 covered by the GPL, public domain software and BSD-like
642 copyrights are safe; be wary of the phrases "commercial
643 use prohibited" and "distribution restricted".
647 <sect id="subsections">
648 <heading>Sections</heading>
651 The packages in the archive areas <em>main</em>,
652 <em>contrib</em> and <em>non-free</em> are grouped further into
653 <em>sections</em> to simplify handling.
657 The archive area and section for each package should be
658 specified in the package's <tt>Section</tt> control record (see
659 <ref id="f-Section">). However, the maintainer of the Debian
660 archive may override this selection to ensure the consistency of
661 the Debian distribution. The <tt>Section</tt> field should be
663 <list compact="compact">
665 <em>section</em> if the package is in the
666 <em>main</em> archive area,
669 <em>area/section</em> if the package is in
670 the <em>contrib</em> or <em>non-free</em>
677 The Debian archive maintainers provide the authoritative
678 list of sections. At present, they are:
679 <em>admin</em>, <em>cli-mono</em>, <em>comm</em>, <em>database</em>,
680 <em>devel</em>, <em>debug</em>, <em>doc</em>, <em>editors</em>,
681 <em>electronics</em>, <em>embedded</em>, <em>fonts</em>,
682 <em>games</em>, <em>gnome</em>, <em>graphics</em>, <em>gnu-r</em>,
683 <em>gnustep</em>, <em>hamradio</em>, <em>haskell</em>,
684 <em>httpd</em>, <em>interpreters</em>, <em>java</em>, <em>kde</em>,
685 <em>kernel</em>, <em>libs</em>, <em>libdevel</em>, <em>lisp</em>,
686 <em>localization</em>, <em>mail</em>, <em>math</em>, <em>misc</em>,
687 <em>net</em>, <em>news</em>, <em>ocaml</em>, <em>oldlibs</em>,
688 <em>otherosfs</em>, <em>perl</em>, <em>php</em>, <em>python</em>,
689 <em>ruby</em>, <em>science</em>, <em>shells</em>, <em>sound</em>,
690 <em>tex</em>, <em>text</em>, <em>utils</em>, <em>vcs</em>,
691 <em>video</em>, <em>web</em>, <em>x11</em>, <em>xfce</em>,
692 <em>zope</em>. The additional section <em>debian-installer</em>
693 contains special packages used by the installer and is not used
694 for normal Debian packages.
698 For more information about the sections and their definitions,
699 see the <url id="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/"
700 name="list of sections in unstable">.
704 <sect id="priorities">
705 <heading>Priorities</heading>
708 Each package should have a <em>priority</em> value, which is
709 included in the package's <em>control record</em>
710 (see <ref id="f-Priority">).
711 This information is used by the Debian package management tools to
712 separate high-priority packages from less-important packages.
716 The following <em>priority levels</em> are recognized by the
717 Debian package management tools.
719 <tag><tt>required</tt></tag>
721 Packages which are necessary for the proper
722 functioning of the system (usually, this means that
723 dpkg functionality depends on these packages).
724 Removing a <tt>required</tt> package may cause your
725 system to become totally broken and you may not even
726 be able to use <prgn>dpkg</prgn> to put things back,
727 so only do so if you know what you are doing. Systems
728 with only the <tt>required</tt> packages are probably
729 unusable, but they do have enough functionality to
730 allow the sysadmin to boot and install more software.
732 <tag><tt>important</tt></tag>
734 Important programs, including those which one would
735 expect to find on any Unix-like system. If the
736 expectation is that an experienced Unix person who
737 found it missing would say "What on earth is going on,
738 where is <prgn>foo</prgn>?", it must be an
739 <tt>important</tt> package.<footnote>
740 This is an important criterion because we are
741 trying to produce, amongst other things, a free
744 Other packages without which the system will not run
745 well or be usable must also have priority
746 <tt>important</tt>. This does
747 <em>not</em> include Emacs, the X Window System, TeX
748 or any other large applications. The
749 <tt>important</tt> packages are just a bare minimum of
750 commonly-expected and necessary tools.
752 <tag><tt>standard</tt></tag>
754 These packages provide a reasonably small but not too
755 limited character-mode system. This is what will be
756 installed by default if the user doesn't select anything
757 else. It doesn't include many large applications.
759 <tag><tt>optional</tt></tag>
761 (In a sense everything that isn't required is
762 optional, but that's not what is meant here.) This is
763 all the software that you might reasonably want to
764 install if you didn't know what it was and don't have
765 specialized requirements. This is a much larger system
766 and includes the X Window System, a full TeX
767 distribution, and many applications. Note that
768 optional packages should not conflict with each other.
770 <tag><tt>extra</tt></tag>
772 This contains all packages that conflict with others
773 with required, important, standard or optional
774 priorities, or are only likely to be useful if you
775 already know what they are or have specialized
776 requirements (such as packages containing only detached
783 Packages must not depend on packages with lower priority
784 values (excluding build-time dependencies). In order to
785 ensure this, the priorities of one or more packages may need
794 <heading>Binary packages</heading>
797 The Debian GNU/Linux distribution is based on the Debian
798 package management system, called <prgn>dpkg</prgn>. Thus,
799 all packages in the Debian distribution must be provided
800 in the <tt>.deb</tt> file format.
804 <heading>The package name</heading>
807 Every package must have a name that's unique within the Debian
812 The package name is included in the control field
813 <tt>Package</tt>, the format of which is described
814 in <ref id="f-Package">.
815 The package name is also included as a part of the file name
816 of the <tt>.deb</tt> file.
821 <heading>The version of a package</heading>
824 Every package has a version number recorded in its
825 <tt>Version</tt> control file field, described in
826 <ref id="f-Version">.
830 The package management system imposes an ordering on version
831 numbers, so that it can tell whether packages are being up- or
832 downgraded and so that package system front end applications
833 can tell whether a package it finds available is newer than
834 the one installed on the system. The version number format
835 has the most significant parts (as far as comparison is
836 concerned) at the beginning.
840 If an upstream package has problematic version numbers they
841 should be converted to a sane form for use in the
842 <tt>Version</tt> field.
846 <heading>Version numbers based on dates</heading>
849 In general, Debian packages should use the same version
850 numbers as the upstream sources.
854 However, in some cases where the upstream version number is
855 based on a date (e.g., a development "snapshot" release) the
856 package management system cannot handle these version
857 numbers without epochs. For example, dpkg will consider
858 "96May01" to be greater than "96Dec24".
862 To prevent having to use epochs for every new upstream
863 version, the date based portion of the version number
864 should be changed to the following format in such cases:
865 "19960501", "19961224". It is up to the maintainer whether
866 they want to bother the upstream maintainer to change
867 the version numbers upstream, too.
871 Note that other version formats based on dates which are
872 parsed correctly by the package management system should
873 <em>not</em> be changed.
877 Native Debian packages (i.e., packages which have been
878 written especially for Debian) whose version numbers include
879 dates should always use the "YYYYMMDD" format.
886 <heading>The maintainer of a package</heading>
889 Every package must have a Debian maintainer (the
890 maintainer may be one person or a group of people
891 reachable from a common email address, such as a mailing
892 list). The maintainer is responsible for ensuring that
893 the package is placed in the appropriate distributions.
897 The maintainer must be specified in the
898 <tt>Maintainer</tt> control field with their correct name
899 and a working email address. If one person maintains
900 several packages, they should try to avoid having
901 different forms of their name and email address in
902 the <tt>Maintainer</tt> fields of those packages.
906 The format of the <tt>Maintainer</tt> control field is
907 described in <ref id="f-Maintainer">.
911 If the maintainer of a package quits from the Debian
912 project, "Debian QA Group"
913 <email>packages@qa.debian.org</email> takes over the
914 maintainer-ship of the package until someone else
915 volunteers for that task. These packages are called
916 <em>orphaned packages</em>.<footnote>
917 The detailed procedure for doing this gracefully can
918 be found in the Debian Developer's Reference,
919 see <ref id="related">.
924 <sect id="descriptions">
925 <heading>The description of a package</heading>
928 Every Debian package must have an extended description
929 stored in the appropriate field of the control record.
930 The technical information about the format of the
931 <tt>Description</tt> field is in <ref id="f-Description">.
935 The description should describe the package (the program) to a
936 user (system administrator) who has never met it before so that
937 they have enough information to decide whether they want to
938 install it. This description should not just be copied verbatim
939 from the program's documentation.
943 Put important information first, both in the synopsis and
944 extended description. Sometimes only the first part of the
945 synopsis or of the description will be displayed. You can
946 assume that there will usually be a way to see the whole
947 extended description.
951 The description should also give information about the
952 significant dependencies and conflicts between this package
953 and others, so that the user knows why these dependencies and
954 conflicts have been declared.
958 Instructions for configuring or using the package should
959 not be included (that is what installation scripts,
960 manual pages, info files, etc., are for). Copyright
961 statements and other administrivia should not be included
962 either (that is what the copyright file is for).
965 <sect1 id="synopsis"><heading>The single line synopsis</heading>
968 The single line synopsis should be kept brief - certainly
973 Do not include the package name in the synopsis line. The
974 display software knows how to display this already, and you
975 do not need to state it. Remember that in many situations
976 the user may only see the synopsis line - make it as
977 informative as you can.
982 <sect1 id="extendeddesc"><heading>The extended description</heading>
985 Do not try to continue the single line synopsis into the
986 extended description. This will not work correctly when
987 the full description is displayed, and makes no sense
988 where only the summary (the single line synopsis) is
993 The extended description should describe what the package
994 does and how it relates to the rest of the system (in terms
995 of, for example, which subsystem it is which part of).
999 The description field needs to make sense to anyone, even
1000 people who have no idea about any of the things the
1001 package deals with.<footnote>
1002 The blurb that comes with a program in its
1003 announcements and/or <prgn>README</prgn> files is
1004 rarely suitable for use in a description. It is
1005 usually aimed at people who are already in the
1006 community where the package is used.
1015 <heading>Dependencies</heading>
1018 Every package must specify the dependency information
1019 about other packages that are required for the first to
1024 For example, a dependency entry must be provided for any
1025 shared libraries required by a dynamically-linked executable
1026 binary in a package.
1030 Packages are not required to declare any dependencies they
1031 have on other packages which are marked <tt>Essential</tt>
1032 (see below), and should not do so unless they depend on a
1033 particular version of that package.<footnote>
1035 Essential is needed in part to avoid unresolvable dependency
1036 loops on upgrade. If packages add unnecessary dependencies
1037 on packages in this set, the chances that there
1038 <strong>will</strong> be an unresolvable dependency loop
1039 caused by forcing these Essential packages to be configured
1040 first before they need to be is greatly increased. It also
1041 increases the chances that frontends will be unable to
1042 <strong>calculate</strong> an upgrade path, even if one
1046 Also, functionality is rarely ever removed from the
1047 Essential set, but <em>packages</em> have been removed from
1048 the Essential set when the functionality moved to a
1049 different package. So depending on these packages <em>just
1050 in case</em> they stop being essential does way more harm
1057 Sometimes, a package requires another package to be installed
1058 <em>and</em> configured before it can be installed. In this
1059 case, you must specify a <tt>Pre-Depends</tt> entry for
1064 You should not specify a <tt>Pre-Depends</tt> entry for a
1065 package before this has been discussed on the
1066 <tt>debian-devel</tt> mailing list and a consensus about
1067 doing that has been reached.
1071 The format of the package interrelationship control fields is
1072 described in <ref id="relationships">.
1076 <sect id="virtual_pkg">
1077 <heading>Virtual packages</heading>
1080 Sometimes, there are several packages which offer
1081 more-or-less the same functionality. In this case, it's
1082 useful to define a <em>virtual package</em> whose name
1083 describes that common functionality. (The virtual
1084 packages only exist logically, not physically; that's why
1085 they are called <em>virtual</em>.) The packages with this
1086 particular function will then <em>provide</em> the virtual
1087 package. Thus, any other package requiring that function
1088 can simply depend on the virtual package without having to
1089 specify all possible packages individually.
1093 All packages should use virtual package names where
1094 appropriate, and arrange to create new ones if necessary.
1095 They should not use virtual package names (except privately,
1096 amongst a cooperating group of packages) unless they have
1097 been agreed upon and appear in the list of virtual package
1098 names. (See also <ref id="virtual">)
1102 The latest version of the authoritative list of virtual
1103 package names can be found in the <tt>debian-policy</tt> package.
1104 It is also available from the Debian web mirrors at
1105 <tt><url name="/doc/packaging-manuals/virtual-package-names-list.txt"
1106 id="http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/virtual-package-names-list.txt"></tt>.
1110 The procedure for updating the list is described in the preface
1117 <heading>Base system</heading>
1120 The <tt>base system</tt> is a minimum subset of the Debian
1121 GNU/Linux system that is installed before everything else
1122 on a new system. Only very few packages are allowed to form
1123 part of the base system, in order to keep the required disk
1128 The base system consists of all those packages with priority
1129 <tt>required</tt> or <tt>important</tt>. Many of them will
1130 be tagged <tt>essential</tt> (see below).
1135 <heading>Essential packages</heading>
1138 Essential is defined as the minimal set of functionality that
1139 must be available and usable on the system at all times, even
1140 when packages are in an unconfigured (but unpacked) state.
1141 Packages are tagged <tt>essential</tt> for a system using the
1142 <tt>Essential</tt> control file field. The format of the
1143 <tt>Essential</tt> control field is described in <ref
1148 Since these packages cannot be easily removed (one has to
1149 specify an extra <em>force option</em> to
1150 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> to do so), this flag must not be used
1151 unless absolutely necessary. A shared library package
1152 must not be tagged <tt>essential</tt>; dependencies will
1153 prevent its premature removal, and we need to be able to
1154 remove it when it has been superseded.
1158 Since dpkg will not prevent upgrading of other packages
1159 while an <tt>essential</tt> package is in an unconfigured
1160 state, all <tt>essential</tt> packages must supply all of
1161 their core functionality even when unconfigured. If the
1162 package cannot satisfy this requirement it must not be
1163 tagged as essential, and any packages depending on this
1164 package must instead have explicit dependency fields as
1169 Maintainers should take great care in adding any programs,
1170 interfaces, or functionality to <tt>essential</tt> packages.
1171 Packages may assume that functionality provided by
1172 <tt>essential</tt> packages is always available without
1173 declaring explicit dependencies, which means that removing
1174 functionality from the Essential set is very difficult and is
1175 almost never done. Any capability added to an
1176 <tt>essential</tt> package therefore creates an obligation to
1177 support that capability as part of the Essential set in
1182 You must not tag any packages <tt>essential</tt> before
1183 this has been discussed on the <tt>debian-devel</tt>
1184 mailing list and a consensus about doing that has been
1189 <sect id="maintscripts">
1190 <heading>Maintainer Scripts</heading>
1193 The package installation scripts should avoid producing
1194 output which is unnecessary for the user to see and
1195 should rely on <prgn>dpkg</prgn> to stave off boredom on
1196 the part of a user installing many packages. This means,
1197 amongst other things, using the <tt>--quiet</tt> option on
1198 <prgn>install-info</prgn>.
1202 Errors which occur during the execution of an installation
1203 script must be checked and the installation must not
1204 continue after an error.
1208 Note that in general <ref id="scripts"> applies to package
1209 maintainer scripts, too.
1213 You should not use <prgn>dpkg-divert</prgn> on a file
1214 belonging to another package without consulting the
1215 maintainer of that package first.
1219 All packages which supply an instance of a common command
1220 name (or, in general, filename) should generally use
1221 <prgn>update-alternatives</prgn>, so that they may be
1222 installed together. If <prgn>update-alternatives</prgn>
1223 is not used, then each package must use
1224 <tt>Conflicts</tt> to ensure that other packages are
1225 de-installed. (In this case, it may be appropriate to
1226 specify a conflict against earlier versions of something
1227 that previously did not use
1228 <prgn>update-alternatives</prgn>; this is an exception to
1229 the usual rule that versioned conflicts should be
1233 <sect1 id="maintscriptprompt">
1234 <heading>Prompting in maintainer scripts</heading>
1236 Package maintainer scripts may prompt the user if
1237 necessary. Prompting must be done by communicating
1238 through a program, such as <prgn>debconf</prgn>, which
1239 conforms to the Debian Configuration Management
1240 Specification, version 2 or higher.
1244 Packages which are essential, or which are dependencies of
1245 essential packages, may fall back on another prompting method
1246 if no such interface is available when they are executed.
1250 The Debian Configuration Management Specification is included
1251 in the <file>debconf_specification</file> files in the
1252 <package>debian-policy</package> package.
1253 It is also available from the Debian web mirrors at
1254 <tt><url name="/doc/packaging-manuals/debconf_specification.html"
1255 id="http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/debconf_specification.html"></tt>.
1259 Packages which use the Debian Configuration Management
1260 Specification may contain an additional
1261 <prgn>config</prgn> script and a <tt>templates</tt>
1262 file in their control archive<footnote>
1263 The control.tar.gz inside the .deb.
1264 See <manref name="deb" section="5">.
1266 The <prgn>config</prgn> script might be run before the
1267 <prgn>preinst</prgn> script, and before the package is unpacked
1268 or any of its dependencies or pre-dependencies are satisfied.
1269 Therefore it must work using only the tools present in
1270 <em>essential</em> packages.<footnote>
1271 <package>Debconf</package> or another tool that
1272 implements the Debian Configuration Management
1273 Specification will also be installed, and any
1274 versioned dependencies on it will be satisfied
1275 before preconfiguration begins.
1280 Packages which use the Debian Configuration Management
1281 Specification must allow for translation of their user-visible
1282 messages by using a gettext-based system such as the one
1283 provided by the <package>po-debconf</package> package.
1287 Packages should try to minimize the amount of prompting
1288 they need to do, and they should ensure that the user
1289 will only ever be asked each question once. This means
1290 that packages should try to use appropriate shared
1291 configuration files (such as <file>/etc/papersize</file> and
1292 <file>/etc/news/server</file>), and shared
1293 <package>debconf</package> variables rather than each
1294 prompting for their own list of required pieces of
1299 It also means that an upgrade should not ask the same
1300 questions again, unless the user has used
1301 <tt>dpkg --purge</tt> to remove the package's configuration.
1302 The answers to configuration questions should be stored in an
1303 appropriate place in <file>/etc</file> so that the user can
1304 modify them, and how this has been done should be
1309 If a package has a vitally important piece of
1310 information to pass to the user (such as "don't run me
1311 as I am, you must edit the following configuration files
1312 first or you risk your system emitting badly-formatted
1313 messages"), it should display this in the
1314 <prgn>config</prgn> or <prgn>postinst</prgn> script and
1315 prompt the user to hit return to acknowledge the
1316 message. Copyright messages do not count as vitally
1317 important (they belong in
1318 <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/copyright</file>);
1319 neither do instructions on how to use a program (these
1320 should be in on-line documentation, where all the users
1325 Any necessary prompting should almost always be confined
1326 to the <prgn>config</prgn> or <prgn>postinst</prgn>
1327 script. If it is done in the <prgn>postinst</prgn>, it
1328 should be protected with a conditional so that
1329 unnecessary prompting doesn't happen if a package's
1330 installation fails and the <prgn>postinst</prgn> is
1331 called with <tt>abort-upgrade</tt>,
1332 <tt>abort-remove</tt> or <tt>abort-deconfigure</tt>.
1342 <heading>Source packages</heading>
1344 <sect id="standardsversion">
1345 <heading>Standards conformance</heading>
1348 Source packages should specify the most recent version number
1349 of this policy document with which your package complied
1350 when it was last updated.
1354 This information may be used to file bug reports
1355 automatically if your package becomes too much out of date.
1359 The version is specified in the <tt>Standards-Version</tt>
1361 The format of the <tt>Standards-Version</tt> field is
1362 described in <ref id="f-Standards-Version">.
1366 You should regularly, and especially if your package has
1367 become out of date, check for the newest Policy Manual
1368 available and update your package, if necessary. When your
1369 package complies with the new standards you should update the
1370 <tt>Standards-Version</tt> source package field and
1371 release it.<footnote>
1372 See the file <file>upgrading-checklist</file> for
1373 information about policy which has changed between
1374 different versions of this document.
1380 <sect id="pkg-relations">
1381 <heading>Package relationships</heading>
1384 Source packages should specify which binary packages they
1385 require to be installed or not to be installed in order to
1386 build correctly. For example, if building a package
1387 requires a certain compiler, then the compiler should be
1388 specified as a build-time dependency.
1392 It is not necessary to explicitly specify build-time
1393 relationships on a minimal set of packages that are always
1394 needed to compile, link and put in a Debian package a
1395 standard "Hello World!" program written in C or C++. The
1396 required packages are called <em>build-essential</em>, and
1397 an informational list can be found in
1398 <file>/usr/share/doc/build-essential/list</file> (which is
1399 contained in the <tt>build-essential</tt>
1402 <list compact="compact">
1404 This allows maintaining the list separately
1405 from the policy documents (the list does not
1406 need the kind of control that the policy
1410 Having a separate package allows one to install
1411 the build-essential packages on a machine, as
1412 well as allowing other packages such as tasks to
1413 require installation of the build-essential
1414 packages using the depends relation.
1417 The separate package allows bug reports against
1418 the list to be categorized separately from
1419 the policy management process in the BTS.
1426 When specifying the set of build-time dependencies, one
1427 should list only those packages explicitly required by the
1428 build. It is not necessary to list packages which are
1429 required merely because some other package in the list of
1430 build-time dependencies depends on them.<footnote>
1431 The reason for this is that dependencies change, and
1432 you should list all those packages, and <em>only</em>
1433 those packages that <em>you</em> need directly. What
1434 others need is their business. For example, if you
1435 only link against <file>libimlib</file>, you will need to
1436 build-depend on <package>libimlib2-dev</package> but
1437 not against any <tt>libjpeg*</tt> packages, even
1438 though <tt>libimlib2-dev</tt> currently depends on
1439 them: installation of <package>libimlib2-dev</package>
1440 will automatically ensure that all of its run-time
1441 dependencies are satisfied.
1446 If build-time dependencies are specified, it must be
1447 possible to build the package and produce working binaries
1448 on a system with only essential and build-essential
1449 packages installed and also those required to satisfy the
1450 build-time relationships (including any implied
1451 relationships). In particular, this means that version
1452 clauses should be used rigorously in build-time
1453 relationships so that one cannot produce bad or
1454 inconsistently configured packages when the relationships
1455 are properly satisfied.
1459 <ref id="relationships"> explains the technical details.
1464 <heading>Changes to the upstream sources</heading>
1467 If changes to the source code are made that are not
1468 specific to the needs of the Debian system, they should be
1469 sent to the upstream authors in whatever form they prefer
1470 so as to be included in the upstream version of the
1475 If you need to configure the package differently for
1476 Debian or for Linux, and the upstream source doesn't
1477 provide a way to do so, you should add such configuration
1478 facilities (for example, a new <prgn>autoconf</prgn> test
1479 or <tt>#define</tt>) and send the patch to the upstream
1480 authors, with the default set to the way they originally
1481 had it. You can then easily override the default in your
1482 <file>debian/rules</file> or wherever is appropriate.
1486 You should make sure that the <prgn>configure</prgn> utility
1487 detects the correct architecture specification string
1488 (refer to <ref id="arch-spec"> for details).
1492 If you need to edit a <prgn>Makefile</prgn> where GNU-style
1493 <prgn>configure</prgn> scripts are used, you should edit the
1494 <file>.in</file> files rather than editing the
1495 <prgn>Makefile</prgn> directly. This allows the user to
1496 reconfigure the package if necessary. You should
1497 <em>not</em> configure the package and edit the generated
1498 <prgn>Makefile</prgn>! This makes it impossible for someone
1499 else to later reconfigure the package without losing the
1505 <sect id="dpkgchangelog">
1506 <heading>Debian changelog: <file>debian/changelog</file></heading>
1509 Changes in the Debian version of the package should be
1510 briefly explained in the Debian changelog file
1511 <file>debian/changelog</file>.<footnote>
1513 Mistakes in changelogs are usually best rectified by
1514 making a new changelog entry rather than "rewriting
1515 history" by editing old changelog entries.
1518 This includes modifications
1519 made in the Debian package compared to the upstream one
1520 as well as other changes and updates to the package.
1522 Although there is nothing stopping an author who is also
1523 the Debian maintainer from using this changelog for all
1524 their changes, it will have to be renamed if the Debian
1525 and upstream maintainers become different people. In such
1526 a case, however, it might be better to maintain the package
1527 as a non-native package.
1532 The format of the <file>debian/changelog</file> allows the
1533 package building tools to discover which version of the package
1534 is being built and find out other release-specific information.
1538 That format is a series of entries like this:
1540 <example compact="compact">
1541 <var>package</var> (<var>version</var>) <var>distribution(s)</var>; urgency=<var>urgency</var>
1543 [optional blank line(s), stripped]
1545 * <var>change details</var>
1546 <var>more change details</var>
1548 [blank line(s), included in output of dpkg-parsechangelog]
1550 * <var>even more change details</var>
1552 [optional blank line(s), stripped]
1554 -- <var>maintainer name</var> <<var>email address</var>><var>[two spaces]</var> <var>date</var>
1559 <var>package</var> and <var>version</var> are the source
1560 package name and version number.
1564 <var>distribution(s)</var> lists the distributions where
1565 this version should be installed when it is uploaded - it
1566 is copied to the <tt>Distribution</tt> field in the
1567 <file>.changes</file> file. See <ref id="f-Distribution">.
1571 <var>urgency</var> is the value for the <tt>Urgency</tt>
1572 field in the <file>.changes</file> file for the upload
1573 (see <ref id="f-Urgency">). It is not possible to specify
1574 an urgency containing commas; commas are used to separate
1575 <tt><var>keyword</var>=<var>value</var></tt> settings in the
1576 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> changelog format (though there is
1577 currently only one useful <var>keyword</var>,
1582 The change details may in fact be any series of lines
1583 starting with at least two spaces, but conventionally each
1584 change starts with an asterisk and a separating space and
1585 continuation lines are indented so as to bring them in
1586 line with the start of the text above. Blank lines may be
1587 used here to separate groups of changes, if desired.
1591 If this upload resolves bugs recorded in the Bug Tracking
1592 System (BTS), they may be automatically closed on the
1593 inclusion of this package into the Debian archive by
1594 including the string: <tt>closes: Bug#<var>nnnnn</var></tt>
1595 in the change details.<footnote>
1596 To be precise, the string should match the following
1597 Perl regular expression:
1599 /closes:\s*(?:bug)?\#?\s?\d+(?:,\s*(?:bug)?\#?\s?\d+)*/i
1601 Then all of the bug numbers listed will be closed by the
1602 archive maintenance script (<prgn>katie</prgn>) using the
1603 <var>version</var> of the changelog entry.
1605 This information is conveyed via the <tt>Closes</tt> field
1606 in the <tt>.changes</tt> file (see <ref id="f-Closes">).
1610 The maintainer name and email address used in the changelog
1611 should be the details of the person uploading <em>this</em>
1612 version. They are <em>not</em> necessarily those of the
1613 usual package maintainer. The information here will be
1614 copied to the <tt>Changed-By</tt> field in the
1615 <tt>.changes</tt> file (see <ref id="f-Changed-By">),
1616 and then later used to send an acknowledgement when the
1617 upload has been installed.
1621 The <var>date</var> must be in RFC822 format<footnote>
1622 This is generated by <tt>date -R</tt>.
1623 </footnote>; it must include the time zone specified
1624 numerically, with the time zone name or abbreviation
1625 optionally present as a comment in parentheses.
1629 The first "title" line with the package name must start
1630 at the left hand margin. The "trailer" line with the
1631 maintainer and date details must be preceded by exactly
1632 one space. The maintainer details and the date must be
1633 separated by exactly two spaces.
1637 The entire changelog must be encoded in UTF-8.
1641 For more information on placement of the changelog files
1642 within binary packages, please see <ref id="changelogs">.
1646 <sect id="dpkgcopyright">
1647 <heading>Copyright: <file>debian/copyright</file></heading>
1649 Every package must be accompanied by a verbatim copy of its
1650 copyright information and distribution license in the file
1651 <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/copyright</file>
1652 (see <ref id="copyrightfile"> for further details). Also see
1653 <ref id="pkgcopyright"> for further considerations related
1654 to copyrights for packages.
1658 <heading>Error trapping in makefiles</heading>
1661 When <prgn>make</prgn> invokes a command in a makefile
1662 (including your package's upstream makefiles and
1663 <file>debian/rules</file>), it does so using <prgn>sh</prgn>. This
1664 means that <prgn>sh</prgn>'s usual bad error handling
1665 properties apply: if you include a miniature script as one
1666 of the commands in your makefile you'll find that if you
1667 don't do anything about it then errors are not detected
1668 and <prgn>make</prgn> will blithely continue after
1673 Every time you put more than one shell command (this
1674 includes using a loop) in a makefile command you
1675 must make sure that errors are trapped. For
1676 simple compound commands, such as changing directory and
1677 then running a program, using <tt>&&</tt> rather
1678 than semicolon as a command separator is sufficient. For
1679 more complex commands including most loops and
1680 conditionals you should include a separate <tt>set -e</tt>
1681 command at the start of every makefile command that's
1682 actually one of these miniature shell scripts.
1686 <sect id="timestamps">
1687 <heading>Time Stamps</heading>
1689 Maintainers should preserve the modification times of the
1690 upstream source files in a package, as far as is reasonably
1692 The rationale is that there is some information conveyed
1693 by knowing the age of the file, for example, you could
1694 recognize that some documentation is very old by looking
1695 at the modification time, so it would be nice if the
1696 modification time of the upstream source would be
1702 <sect id="restrictions">
1703 <heading>Restrictions on objects in source packages</heading>
1706 The source package may not contain any hard links<footnote>
1708 This is not currently detected when building source
1709 packages, but only when extracting
1713 Hard links may be permitted at some point in the
1714 future, but would require a fair amount of
1717 </footnote>, device special files, sockets or setuid or
1718 setgid files.<footnote>
1719 Setgid directories are allowed.
1724 <sect id="debianrules">
1725 <heading>Main building script: <file>debian/rules</file></heading>
1728 This file must be an executable makefile, and contains the
1729 package-specific recipes for compiling the package and
1730 building binary package(s) from the source.
1734 It must start with the line <tt>#!/usr/bin/make -f</tt>,
1735 so that it can be invoked by saying its name rather than
1736 invoking <prgn>make</prgn> explicitly. That is, invoking
1737 either of <tt>make -f debian/rules <em>args...</em></tt>
1738 or <tt>./debian/rules <em>args...</em></tt> must result in
1743 Since an interactive <file>debian/rules</file> script makes it
1744 impossible to auto-compile that package and also makes it
1745 hard for other people to reproduce the same binary
1746 package, all <em>required targets</em> must be
1747 non-interactive. At a minimum, required targets are the
1748 ones called by <prgn>dpkg-buildpackage</prgn>, namely,
1749 <em>clean</em>, <em>binary</em>, <em>binary-arch</em>,
1750 <em>binary-indep</em>, and <em>build</em>. It also follows
1751 that any target that these targets depend on must also be
1756 The targets are as follows (required unless stated otherwise):
1758 <tag><tt>build</tt></tag>
1761 The <tt>build</tt> target should perform all the
1762 configuration and compilation of the package.
1763 If a package has an interactive pre-build
1764 configuration routine, the Debianized source package
1765 must either be built after this has taken place (so
1766 that the binary package can be built without rerunning
1767 the configuration) or the configuration routine
1768 modified to become non-interactive. (The latter is
1769 preferable if there are architecture-specific features
1770 detected by the configuration routine.)
1774 For some packages, notably ones where the same
1775 source tree is compiled in different ways to produce
1776 two binary packages, the <tt>build</tt> target
1777 does not make much sense. For these packages it is
1778 good enough to provide two (or more) targets
1779 (<tt>build-a</tt> and <tt>build-b</tt> or whatever)
1780 for each of the ways of building the package, and a
1781 <tt>build</tt> target that does nothing. The
1782 <tt>binary</tt> target will have to build the
1783 package in each of the possible ways and make the
1784 binary package out of each.
1788 The <tt>build</tt> target must not do anything
1789 that might require root privilege.
1793 The <tt>build</tt> target may need to run the
1794 <tt>clean</tt> target first - see below.
1798 When a package has a configuration and build routine
1799 which takes a long time, or when the makefiles are
1800 poorly designed, or when <tt>build</tt> needs to
1801 run <tt>clean</tt> first, it is a good idea to
1802 <tt>touch build</tt> when the build process is
1803 complete. This will ensure that if <tt>debian/rules
1804 build</tt> is run again it will not rebuild the whole
1806 Another common way to do this is for <tt>build</tt>
1807 to depend on <prgn>build-stamp</prgn> and to do
1808 nothing else, and for the <prgn>build-stamp</prgn>
1809 target to do the building and to <tt>touch
1810 build-stamp</tt> on completion. This is
1811 especially useful if the build routine creates a
1812 file or directory called <tt>build</tt>; in such a
1813 case, <tt>build</tt> will need to be listed as
1814 a phony target (i.e., as a dependency of the
1815 <tt>.PHONY</tt> target). See the documentation of
1816 <prgn>make</prgn> for more information on phony
1822 <tag><tt>build-arch</tt> (optional),
1823 <tt>build-indep</tt> (optional)
1827 A package may also provide both of the targets
1828 <tt>build-arch</tt> and <tt>build-indep</tt>.
1829 The <tt>build-arch</tt> target, if provided, should
1830 perform all the configuration and compilation required
1831 for producing all architecture-dependant binary packages
1832 (those packages for which the body of the
1833 <tt>Architecture</tt> field in <tt>debian/control</tt>
1834 is not <tt>all</tt>).
1835 Similarly, the <tt>build-indep</tt> target, if
1836 provided, should perform all the configuration and
1837 compilation required for producing all
1838 architecture-independent binary packages
1839 (those packages for which the body of the
1840 <tt>Architecture</tt> field in <tt>debian/control</tt>
1842 The <tt>build</tt> target should depend on those of the
1843 targets <tt>build-arch</tt> and <tt>build-indep</tt> that
1844 are provided in the rules file.
1848 If one or both of the targets <tt>build-arch</tt> and
1849 <tt>build-indep</tt> are not provided, then invoking
1850 <file>debian/rules</file> with one of the not-provided
1851 targets as arguments should produce a exit status code
1852 of 2. Usually this is provided automatically by make
1853 if the target is missing.
1857 The <tt>build-arch</tt> and <tt>build-indep</tt> targets
1858 must not do anything that might require root privilege.
1862 <tag><tt>binary</tt>, <tt>binary-arch</tt>,
1863 <tt>binary-indep</tt>
1867 The <tt>binary</tt> target must be all that is
1868 necessary for the user to build the binary package(s)
1869 produced from this source package. It is
1870 split into two parts: <prgn>binary-arch</prgn> builds
1871 the binary packages which are specific to a particular
1872 architecture, and <tt>binary-indep</tt> builds
1873 those which are not.
1876 <tt>binary</tt> may be (and commonly is) a target with
1877 no commands which simply depends on
1878 <tt>binary-arch</tt> and <tt>binary-indep</tt>.
1881 Both <tt>binary-*</tt> targets should depend on the
1882 <tt>build</tt> target, or on the appropriate
1883 <tt>build-arch</tt> or <tt>build-indep</tt> target, if
1884 provided, so that the package is built if it has not
1885 been already. It should then create the relevant
1886 binary package(s), using <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> to
1887 make their control files and <prgn>dpkg-deb</prgn> to
1888 build them and place them in the parent of the top
1893 Both the <tt>binary-arch</tt> and
1894 <tt>binary-indep</tt> targets <em>must</em> exist.
1895 If one of them has nothing to do (which will always be
1896 the case if the source generates only a single binary
1897 package, whether architecture-dependent or not), it
1898 must still exist and must always succeed.
1902 The <tt>binary</tt> targets must be invoked as
1904 The <prgn>fakeroot</prgn> package often allows one
1905 to build a package correctly even without being
1911 <tag><tt>clean</tt></tag>
1914 This must undo any effects that the <tt>build</tt>
1915 and <tt>binary</tt> targets may have had, except
1916 that it should leave alone any output files created in
1917 the parent directory by a run of a <tt>binary</tt>
1922 If a <tt>build</tt> file is touched at the end of
1923 the <tt>build</tt> target, as suggested above, it
1924 should be removed as the first action that
1925 <tt>clean</tt> performs, so that running
1926 <tt>build</tt> again after an interrupted
1927 <tt>clean</tt> doesn't think that everything is
1932 The <tt>clean</tt> target may need to be
1933 invoked as root if <tt>binary</tt> has been
1934 invoked since the last <tt>clean</tt>, or if
1935 <tt>build</tt> has been invoked as root (since
1936 <tt>build</tt> may create directories, for
1941 <tag><tt>get-orig-source</tt> (optional)</tag>
1944 This target fetches the most recent version of the
1945 original source package from a canonical archive site
1946 (via FTP or WWW, for example), does any necessary
1947 rearrangement to turn it into the original source
1948 tar file format described below, and leaves it in the
1953 This target may be invoked in any directory, and
1954 should take care to clean up any temporary files it
1959 This target is optional, but providing it if
1960 possible is a good idea.
1964 <tag><tt>patch</tt> (optional)</tag>
1967 This target performs whatever additional actions are
1968 required to make the source ready for editing (unpacking
1969 additional upstream archives, applying patches, etc.).
1970 It is recommended to be implemented for any package where
1971 <tt>dpkg-source -x</tt> does not result in source ready
1972 for additional modification. See
1973 <ref id="readmesource">.
1979 The <tt>build</tt>, <tt>binary</tt> and
1980 <tt>clean</tt> targets must be invoked with the current
1981 directory being the package's top-level directory.
1986 Additional targets may exist in <file>debian/rules</file>,
1987 either as published or undocumented interfaces or for the
1988 package's internal use.
1992 The architectures we build on and build for are determined
1993 by <prgn>make</prgn> variables using the utility
1994 <qref id="pkg-dpkg-architecture"><prgn>dpkg-architecture</prgn></qref>.
1995 You can determine the
1996 Debian architecture and the GNU style architecture
1997 specification string for the build machine (the machine type
1998 we are building on) as well as for the host machine (the
1999 machine type we are building for). Here is a list of
2000 supported <prgn>make</prgn> variables:
2001 <list compact="compact">
2003 <tt>DEB_*_ARCH</tt> (the Debian architecture)
2006 <tt>DEB_*_ARCH_CPU</tt> (the Debian CPU name)
2009 <tt>DEB_*_ARCH_OS</tt> (the Debian System name)
2012 <tt>DEB_*_GNU_TYPE</tt> (the GNU style architecture
2013 specification string)
2016 <tt>DEB_*_GNU_CPU</tt> (the CPU part of
2017 <tt>DEB_*_GNU_TYPE</tt>)
2020 <tt>DEB_*_GNU_SYSTEM</tt> (the System part of
2021 <tt>DEB_*_GNU_TYPE</tt>)
2023 where <tt>*</tt> is either <tt>BUILD</tt> for specification of
2024 the build machine or <tt>HOST</tt> for specification of the
2029 Backward compatibility can be provided in the rules file
2030 by setting the needed variables to suitable default
2031 values; please refer to the documentation of
2032 <prgn>dpkg-architecture</prgn> for details.
2036 It is important to understand that the <tt>DEB_*_ARCH</tt>
2037 string only determines which Debian architecture we are
2038 building on or for. It should not be used to get the CPU
2039 or system information; the <tt>DEB_*_ARCH_CPU</tt> and
2040 <tt>DEB_*_ARCH_OS</tt> variables should be used for that.
2041 GNU style variables should generally only be used with upstream
2045 <sect1 id="debianrules-options">
2046 <heading><file>debian/rules</file> and
2047 <tt>DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS</tt></heading>
2050 Supporting the standardized environment variable
2051 <tt>DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS</tt> is recommended. This variable can
2052 contain several flags to change how a package is compiled and
2053 built. Each flag must be in the form <var>flag</var> or
2054 <var>flag</var>=<var>options</var>. If multiple flags are
2055 given, they must be separated by whitespace.<footnote>
2056 Some packages support any delimiter, but whitespace is the
2057 easiest to parse inside a makefile and avoids ambiguity with
2058 flag values that contain commas.
2060 <var>flag</var> must start with a lowercase letter
2061 (<tt>a-z</tt>) and consist only of lowercase letters,
2062 numbers (<tt>0-9</tt>), and the characters
2063 <tt>-</tt> and <tt>_</tt> (hyphen and underscore).
2064 <var>options</var> must not contain whitespace. The same
2065 tag should not be given multiple times with conflicting
2066 values. Package maintainers may assume that
2067 <tt>DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS</tt> will not contain conflicting tags.
2071 The meaning of the following tags has been standardized:
2075 This tag says to not run any build-time test suite
2076 provided by the package.
2080 The presence of this tag means that the package should
2081 be compiled with a minimum of optimization. For C
2082 programs, it is best to add <tt>-O0</tt> to
2083 <tt>CFLAGS</tt> (although this is usually the default).
2084 Some programs might fail to build or run at this level
2085 of optimization; it may be necessary to use
2086 <tt>-O1</tt>, for example.
2090 This tag means that the debugging symbols should not be
2091 stripped from the binary during installation, so that
2092 debugging information may be included in the package.
2094 <tag>parallel=n</tag>
2096 This tag means that the package should be built using up
2097 to <tt>n</tt> parallel processes if the package build
2098 system supports this.<footnote>
2099 Packages built with <tt>make</tt> can often implement
2100 this by passing the <tt>-j</tt><var>n</var> option to
2103 If the package build system does not support parallel
2104 builds, this string must be ignored. If the package
2105 build system only supports a lower level of concurrency
2106 than <var>n</var>, the package should be built using as
2107 many parallel processes as the package build system
2108 supports. It is up to the package maintainer to decide
2109 whether the package build times are long enough and the
2110 package build system is robust enough to make supporting
2111 parallel builds worthwhile.
2117 Unknown flags must be ignored by <file>debian/rules</file>.
2121 The following makefile snippet is an example of how one may
2122 implement the build options; you will probably have to
2123 massage this example in order to make it work for your
2125 <example compact="compact">
2128 INSTALL_FILE = $(INSTALL) -p -o root -g root -m 644
2129 INSTALL_PROGRAM = $(INSTALL) -p -o root -g root -m 755
2130 INSTALL_SCRIPT = $(INSTALL) -p -o root -g root -m 755
2131 INSTALL_DIR = $(INSTALL) -p -d -o root -g root -m 755
2133 ifneq (,$(filter noopt,$(DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS)))
2138 ifeq (,$(filter nostrip,$(DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS)))
2139 INSTALL_PROGRAM += -s
2141 ifneq (,$(filter parallel=%,$(DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS)))
2142 NUMJOBS = $(patsubst parallel=%,%,$(filter parallel=%,$(DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS)))
2143 MAKEFLAGS += -j$(NUMJOBS)
2148 ifeq (,$(filter nocheck,$(DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS)))
2149 # Code to run the package test suite.
2156 <!-- FIXME: section pkg-srcsubstvars is the same as substvars -->
2157 <sect id="substvars">
2158 <heading>Variable substitutions: <file>debian/substvars</file></heading>
2161 When <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn>,
2162 <prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn> and <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn>
2163 generate control files they perform variable substitutions
2164 on their output just before writing it. Variable
2165 substitutions have the form <tt>${<var>variable</var>}</tt>.
2166 The optional file <file>debian/substvars</file> contains
2167 variable substitutions to be used; variables can also be set
2168 directly from <file>debian/rules</file> using the <tt>-V</tt>
2169 option to the source packaging commands, and certain
2170 predefined variables are also available.
2174 The <file>debian/substvars</file> file is usually generated and
2175 modified dynamically by <file>debian/rules</file> targets, in
2176 which case it must be removed by the <tt>clean</tt> target.
2180 See <manref name="deb-substvars" section="5"> for full
2181 details about source variable substitutions, including the
2182 format of <file>debian/substvars</file>.</p>
2185 <sect id="debianwatch">
2186 <heading>Optional upstream source location: <file>debian/watch</file></heading>
2189 This is an optional, recommended control file for the
2190 <tt>uscan</tt> utility which defines how to automatically
2191 scan ftp or http sites for newly available updates of the
2192 package. This is used by <url id="
2193 http://dehs.alioth.debian.org/"> and other Debian QA tools
2194 to help with quality control and maintenance of the
2195 distribution as a whole.
2200 <sect id="debianfiles">
2201 <heading>Generated files list: <file>debian/files</file></heading>
2204 This file is not a permanent part of the source tree; it
2205 is used while building packages to record which files are
2206 being generated. <prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn> uses it
2207 when it generates a <file>.changes</file> file.
2211 It should not exist in a shipped source package, and so it
2212 (and any backup files or temporary files such as
2213 <file>files.new</file><footnote>
2214 <file>files.new</file> is used as a temporary file by
2215 <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> and
2216 <prgn>dpkg-distaddfile</prgn> - they write a new
2217 version of <tt>files</tt> here before renaming it,
2218 to avoid leaving a corrupted copy if an error
2220 </footnote>) should be removed by the
2221 <tt>clean</tt> target. It may also be wise to
2222 ensure a fresh start by emptying or removing it at the
2223 start of the <tt>binary</tt> target.
2227 When <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> is run for a binary
2228 package, it adds an entry to <file>debian/files</file> for the
2229 <file>.deb</file> file that will be created when <tt>dpkg-deb
2230 --build</tt> is run for that binary package. So for most
2231 packages all that needs to be done with this file is to
2232 delete it in the <tt>clean</tt> target.
2236 If a package upload includes files besides the source
2237 package and any binary packages whose control files were
2238 made with <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> then they should be
2239 placed in the parent of the package's top-level directory
2240 and <prgn>dpkg-distaddfile</prgn> should be called to add
2241 the file to the list in <file>debian/files</file>.</p>
2244 <sect id="embeddedfiles">
2245 <heading>Convenience copies of code</heading>
2248 Some software packages include in their distribution convenience
2249 copies of code from other software packages, generally so that
2250 users compiling from source don't have to download multiple
2251 packages. Debian packages should not make use of these
2252 convenience copies unless the included package is explicitly
2253 intended to be used in this way.<footnote>
2254 For example, parts of the GNU build system work like this.
2256 If the included code is already in the Debian archive in the
2257 form of a library, the Debian packaging should ensure that
2258 binary packages reference the libraries already in Debian and
2259 the convenience copy is not used. If the included code is not
2260 already in Debian, it should be packaged separately as a
2261 prerequisite if possible.
2263 Having multiple copies of the same code in Debian is
2264 inefficient, often creates either static linking or shared
2265 library conflicts, and, most importantly, increases the
2266 difficulty of handling security vulnerabilities in the
2272 <sect id="readmesource">
2273 <heading>Source package handling:
2274 <file>debian/README.source</file></heading>
2277 If running <prgn>dpkg-source -x</prgn> on a source package
2278 doesn't produce the source of the package, ready for editing,
2279 and allow one to make changes and run
2280 <prgn>dpkg-buildpackage</prgn> to produce a modified package
2281 without taking any additional steps, creating a
2282 <file>debian/README.source</file> documentation file is
2283 recommended. This file should explain how to do all of the
2286 <item>Generate the fully patched source, in a form ready for
2287 editing, that would be built to create Debian
2288 packages. Doing this with a <tt>patch</tt> target in
2289 <file>debian/rules</file> is recommended; see
2290 <ref id="debianrules">.</item>
2291 <item>Modify the source and save those modifications so that
2292 they will be applied when building the package.</item>
2293 <item>Remove source modifications that are currently being
2294 applied when building the package.</item>
2295 <item>Optionally, document what steps are necessary to
2296 upgrade the Debian source package to a new upstream version,
2297 if applicable.</item>
2299 This explanation should include specific commands and mention
2300 any additional required Debian packages. It should not assume
2301 familiarity with any specific Debian packaging system or patch
2306 This explanation may refer to a documentation file installed by
2307 one of the package's build dependencies provided that the
2308 referenced documentation clearly explains these tasks and is not
2309 a general reference manual.
2313 <file>debian/README.source</file> may also include any other
2314 information that would be helpful to someone modifying the
2315 source package. Even if the package doesn't fit the above
2316 description, maintainers are encouraged to document in a
2317 <file>debian/README.source</file> file any source package with a
2318 particularly complex or unintuitive source layout or build
2319 system (for example, a package that builds the same source
2320 multiple times to generate different binary packages).
2326 <chapt id="controlfields">
2327 <heading>Control files and their fields</heading>
2330 The package management system manipulates data represented in
2331 a common format, known as <em>control data</em>, stored in
2332 <em>control files</em>.
2333 Control files are used for source packages, binary packages and
2334 the <file>.changes</file> files which control the installation
2335 of uploaded files<footnote>
2336 <prgn>dpkg</prgn>'s internal databases are in a similar
2341 <sect id="controlsyntax">
2342 <heading>Syntax of control files</heading>
2345 A control file consists of one or more paragraphs of
2347 The paragraphs are also sometimes referred to as stanzas.
2349 The paragraphs are separated by blank lines. Some control
2350 files allow only one paragraph; others allow several, in
2351 which case each paragraph usually refers to a different
2352 package. (For example, in source packages, the first
2353 paragraph refers to the source package, and later paragraphs
2354 refer to binary packages generated from the source.)
2358 Each paragraph consists of a series of data fields; each
2359 field consists of the field name, followed by a colon and
2360 then the data/value associated with that field. It ends at
2361 the end of the (logical) line. Horizontal whitespace
2362 (spaces and tabs) may occur immediately before or after the
2363 value and is ignored there; it is conventional to put a
2364 single space after the colon. For example, a field might
2366 <example compact="compact">
2369 the field name is <tt>Package</tt> and the field value
2374 Many fields' values may span several lines; in this case
2375 each continuation line must start with a space or a tab.
2376 Any trailing spaces or tabs at the end of individual
2377 lines of a field value are ignored.
2381 In fields where it is specified that lines may not wrap,
2382 only a single line of data is allowed and whitespace is not
2383 significant in a field body. Whitespace must not appear
2384 inside names (of packages, architectures, files or anything
2385 else) or version numbers, or between the characters of
2386 multi-character version relationships.
2390 Field names are not case-sensitive, but it is usual to
2391 capitalize the field names using mixed case as shown below.
2392 Field values are case-sensitive unless the description of the
2393 field says otherwise.
2397 Blank lines, or lines consisting only of spaces and tabs,
2398 are not allowed within field values or between fields - that
2399 would mean a new paragraph.
2403 All control files must be encoded in UTF-8.
2407 <sect id="sourcecontrolfiles">
2408 <heading>Source package control files -- <file>debian/control</file></heading>
2411 The <file>debian/control</file> file contains the most vital
2412 (and version-independent) information about the source package
2413 and about the binary packages it creates.
2417 The first paragraph of the control file contains information about
2418 the source package in general. The subsequent sets each describe a
2419 binary package that the source tree builds.
2423 The fields in the general paragraph (the first one, for the source
2426 <list compact="compact">
2427 <item><qref id="f-Source"><tt>Source</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2428 <item><qref id="f-Maintainer"><tt>Maintainer</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2429 <item><qref id="f-Uploaders"><tt>Uploaders</tt></qref></item>
2430 <item><qref id="f-Section"><tt>Section</tt></qref> (recommended)</item>
2431 <item><qref id="f-Priority"><tt>Priority</tt></qref> (recommended)</item>
2432 <item><qref id="sourcebinarydeps"><tt>Build-Depends</tt> et al</qref></item>
2433 <item><qref id="f-Standards-Version"><tt>Standards-Version</tt></qref> (recommended)</item>
2434 <item><qref id="f-Homepage"><tt>Homepage</tt></qref></item>
2439 The fields in the binary package paragraphs are:
2441 <list compact="compact">
2442 <item><qref id="f-Package"><tt>Package</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2443 <item><qref id="f-Architecture"><tt>Architecture</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2444 <item><qref id="f-Section"><tt>Section</tt></qref> (recommended)</item>
2445 <item><qref id="f-Priority"><tt>Priority</tt></qref> (recommended)</item>
2446 <item><qref id="f-Essential"><tt>Essential</tt></qref></item>
2447 <item><qref id="binarydeps"><tt>Depends</tt> et al</qref></item>
2448 <item><qref id="f-Description"><tt>Description</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2449 <item><qref id="f-Homepage"><tt>Homepage</tt></qref></item>
2454 The syntax and semantics of the fields are described below.
2460 These fields are used by <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> to
2461 generate control files for binary packages (see below), by
2462 <prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn> to generate the
2463 <tt>.changes</tt> file to accompany the upload, and by
2464 <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> when it creates the
2465 <file>.dsc</file> source control file as part of a source
2466 archive. Many fields are permitted to span multiple lines in
2467 <file>debian/control</file> but not in any other control
2468 file. These tools are responsible for removing the line
2469 breaks from such fields when using fields from
2470 <file>debian/control</file> to generate other control files.
2474 The fields here may contain variable references - their
2475 values will be substituted by <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn>,
2476 <prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn> or <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn>
2477 when they generate output control files.
2478 See <ref id="substvars"> for details.
2482 In addition to the control file syntax described <qref
2483 id="controlsyntax">above</qref>, this file may also contain
2484 comment lines starting with <tt>#</tt> without any preceding
2485 whitespace. All such lines are ignored, even in the middle of
2486 continuation lines for a multiline field, and do not end a
2492 <sect id="binarycontrolfiles">
2493 <heading>Binary package control files -- <file>DEBIAN/control</file></heading>
2496 The <file>DEBIAN/control</file> file contains the most vital
2497 (and version-dependent) information about a binary package.
2501 The fields in this file are:
2503 <list compact="compact">
2504 <item><qref id="f-Package"><tt>Package</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2505 <item><qref id="f-Source"><tt>Source</tt></qref></item>
2506 <item><qref id="f-Version"><tt>Version</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2507 <item><qref id="f-Section"><tt>Section</tt></qref> (recommended)</item>
2508 <item><qref id="f-Priority"><tt>Priority</tt></qref> (recommended)</item>
2509 <item><qref id="f-Architecture"><tt>Architecture</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2510 <item><qref id="f-Essential"><tt>Essential</tt></qref></item>
2511 <item><qref id="binarydeps"><tt>Depends</tt> et al</qref></item>
2512 <item><qref id="f-Installed-Size"><tt>Installed-Size</tt></qref></item>
2513 <item><qref id="f-Maintainer"><tt>Maintainer</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2514 <item><qref id="f-Description"><tt>Description</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2515 <item><qref id="f-Homepage"><tt>Homepage</tt></qref></item>
2520 <sect id="debiansourcecontrolfiles">
2521 <heading>Debian source control files -- <tt>.dsc</tt></heading>
2524 This file contains a series of fields, identified and
2525 separated just like the fields in the control file of
2526 a binary package. The fields are listed below; their
2527 syntax is described above, in <ref id="pkg-controlfields">.
2529 <list compact="compact">
2530 <item><qref id="f-Format"><tt>Format</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2531 <item><qref id="f-Source"><tt>Source</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2532 <item><qref id="f-Version"><tt>Version</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2533 <item><qref id="f-Maintainer"><tt>Maintainer</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2534 <item><qref id="f-Uploaders"><tt>Uploaders</tt></qref></item>
2535 <item><qref id="f-Binary"><tt>Binary</tt></qref></item>
2536 <item><qref id="f-Architecture"><tt>Architecture</tt></qref></item>
2537 <item><qref id="sourcebinarydeps"><tt>Build-Depends</tt> et al</qref></item>
2538 <item><qref id="f-Standards-Version"><tt>Standards-Version</tt></qref> (recommended)</item>
2539 <item><qref id="f-Files"><tt>Files</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2540 <item><qref id="f-Homepage"><tt>Homepage</tt></qref></item>
2545 The source package control file is generated by
2546 <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> when it builds the source
2547 archive, from other files in the source package,
2548 described above. When unpacking, it is checked against
2549 the files and directories in the other parts of the
2555 <sect id="debianchangesfiles">
2556 <heading>Debian changes files -- <file>.changes</file></heading>
2559 The .changes files are used by the Debian archive maintenance
2560 software to process updates to packages. They contain one
2561 paragraph which contains information from the
2562 <tt>debian/control</tt> file and other data about the
2563 source package gathered via <tt>debian/changelog</tt>
2564 and <tt>debian/rules</tt>.
2568 The fields in this file are:
2570 <list compact="compact">
2571 <item><qref id="f-Format"><tt>Format</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2572 <item><qref id="f-Date"><tt>Date</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2573 <item><qref id="f-Source"><tt>Source</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2574 <item><qref id="f-Binary"><tt>Binary</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2575 <item><qref id="f-Architecture"><tt>Architecture</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2576 <item><qref id="f-Version"><tt>Version</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2577 <item><qref id="f-Distribution"><tt>Distribution</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2578 <item><qref id="f-Urgency"><tt>Urgency</tt></qref> (recommended)</item>
2579 <item><qref id="f-Maintainer"><tt>Maintainer</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2580 <item><qref id="f-Changed-By"><tt>Changed-By</tt></qref></item>
2581 <item><qref id="f-Description"><tt>Description</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2582 <item><qref id="f-Closes"><tt>Closes</tt></qref></item>
2583 <item><qref id="f-Changes"><tt>Changes</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2584 <item><qref id="f-Files"><tt>Files</tt></qref> (mandatory)</item>
2589 <sect id="controlfieldslist">
2590 <heading>List of fields</heading>
2592 <sect1 id="f-Source">
2593 <heading><tt>Source</tt></heading>
2596 This field identifies the source package name.
2600 In <file>debian/control</file> or a <file>.dsc</file> file,
2601 this field must contain only the name of the source package.
2605 In a binary package control file or a <file>.changes</file>
2606 file, the source package name may be followed by a version
2607 number in parentheses<footnote>
2608 It is customary to leave a space after the package name
2609 if a version number is specified.
2611 This version number may be omitted (and is, by
2612 <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn>) if it has the same value as
2613 the <tt>Version</tt> field of the binary package in
2614 question. The field itself may be omitted from a binary
2615 package control file when the source package has the same
2616 name and version as the binary package.
2620 Package names (both source and binary,
2621 see <ref id="f-Package">) must consist only of lower case
2622 letters (<tt>a-z</tt>), digits (<tt>0-9</tt>), plus
2623 (<tt>+</tt>) and minus (<tt>-</tt>) signs, and periods
2624 (<tt>.</tt>). They must be at least two characters long and
2625 must start with an alphanumeric character.
2629 <sect1 id="f-Maintainer">
2630 <heading><tt>Maintainer</tt></heading>
2633 The package maintainer's name and email address. The name
2634 should come first, then the email address inside angle
2635 brackets <tt><></tt> (in RFC822 format).
2639 If the maintainer's name contains a full stop then the
2640 whole field will not work directly as an email address due
2641 to a misfeature in the syntax specified in RFC822; a
2642 program using this field as an address must check for this
2643 and correct the problem if necessary (for example by
2644 putting the name in round brackets and moving it to the
2645 end, and bringing the email address forward).
2649 <sect1 id="f-Uploaders">
2650 <heading><tt>Uploaders</tt></heading>
2653 List of the names and email addresses of co-maintainers of
2654 the package, if any. If the package has other maintainers
2655 beside the one named in the
2656 <qref id="f-Maintainer">Maintainer field</qref>, their
2657 names and email addresses should be listed here. The
2658 format is the same as that of the Maintainer tag, and
2659 multiple entries should be comma separated. Currently,
2660 this field is restricted to a single line of data. This
2661 is an optional field.
2664 Any parser that interprets the Uploaders field in
2665 <file>debian/control</file> must permit it to span multiple
2666 lines. Line breaks in an Uploaders field that spans multiple
2667 lines are not significant and the semantics of the field are
2668 the same as if the line breaks had not been present.
2672 <sect1 id="f-Changed-By">
2673 <heading><tt>Changed-By</tt></heading>
2676 The name and email address of the person who changed the
2677 said package. Usually the name of the maintainer.
2678 All the rules for the Maintainer field apply here, too.
2682 <sect1 id="f-Section">
2683 <heading><tt>Section</tt></heading>
2686 This field specifies an application area into which the package
2687 has been classified. See <ref id="subsections">.
2691 When it appears in the <file>debian/control</file> file,
2692 it gives the value for the subfield of the same name in
2693 the <tt>Files</tt> field of the <file>.changes</file> file.
2694 It also gives the default for the same field in the binary
2699 <sect1 id="f-Priority">
2700 <heading><tt>Priority</tt></heading>
2703 This field represents how important it is that the user
2704 have the package installed. See <ref id="priorities">.
2708 When it appears in the <file>debian/control</file> file,
2709 it gives the value for the subfield of the same name in
2710 the <tt>Files</tt> field of the <file>.changes</file> file.
2711 It also gives the default for the same field in the binary
2716 <sect1 id="f-Package">
2717 <heading><tt>Package</tt></heading>
2720 The name of the binary package.
2724 Binary package names must follow the same syntax and
2725 restrictions as source package names. See <ref id="f-Source">
2730 <sect1 id="f-Architecture">
2731 <heading><tt>Architecture</tt></heading>
2734 Depending on context and the control file used, the
2735 <tt>Architecture</tt> field can include the following sets of
2739 A unique single word identifying a Debian machine
2740 architecture as described in <ref id="arch-spec">.
2743 An architecture wildcard identifying a set of Debian
2744 machine architectures, see <ref id="arch-wildcard-spec">.
2745 <tt>any</tt> matches all Debian machine architectures
2746 and is the most frequently used.
2749 <tt>all</tt>, which indicates an
2750 architecture-independent package.
2753 <tt>source</tt>, which indicates a source package.
2759 In the main <file>debian/control</file> file in the source
2760 package, this field may contain the special
2761 value <tt>all</tt>, the special architecture
2762 wildcard <tt>any</tt>, or a list of specific and wildcard
2763 architectures separated by spaces. If <tt>all</tt>
2764 or <tt>any</tt> appears, that value must be the entire
2765 contents of the field. Most packages will use
2766 either <tt>all</tt> or <tt>any</tt>.
2770 Specifying a specific list of architectures indicates that the
2771 source will build an architecture-dependent package only on
2772 architectures included in the list. Specifying a list of
2773 architecture wildcards indicates that the source will build an
2774 architecture-dependent package on only those architectures
2775 that match any of the specified architecture wildcards.
2776 Specifying a list of architectures or architecture wildcards
2777 other than <tt>any</tt> is for the minority of cases where a
2778 program is not portable or is not useful on some
2779 architectures. Where possible, the program should be made
2784 In the source package control file <file>.dsc</file>, this
2785 field may contain either the architecture
2786 wildcard <tt>any</tt> or a list of architectures and
2787 architecture wildcards separated by spaces. If a list is
2788 given, it may include (or consist solely of) the special
2789 value <tt>all</tt>. In other words, in <file>.dsc</file>
2790 files unlike the <file>debian/control</file>, <tt>all</tt> may
2791 occur in combination with specific architectures.
2792 The <tt>Architecture</tt> field in the source package control
2793 file <file>.dsc</file> is generally constructed from
2794 the <tt>Architecture</tt> fields in
2795 the <file>debian/control</file> in the source package.
2799 Specifying <tt>any</tt> indicates that the source package
2800 isn't dependent on any particular architecture and should
2801 compile fine on any one. The produced binary package(s)
2802 will either be specific to whatever the current build
2803 architecture is or will be architecture-independent.
2807 Specifying only <tt>all</tt> indicates that the source package
2808 will only build architecture-independent packages. If this is
2809 the case, <tt>all</tt> must be used rather than <tt>any</tt>;
2810 <tt>any</tt> implies that the source package will build at
2811 least one architecture-dependent package.
2815 Specifying a list of architectures or architecture wildcards
2816 indicates that the source will build an architecture-dependent
2817 package, and will only work correctly on the listed or
2818 matching architectures. If the source package also builds at
2819 least one architecture-independent package, <tt>all</tt> will
2820 also be included in the list.
2824 In a <file>.changes</file> file, the <tt>Architecture</tt>
2825 field lists the architecture(s) of the package(s) currently
2826 being uploaded. This will be a list; if the source for the
2827 package is also being uploaded, the special
2828 entry <tt>source</tt> is also present. <tt>all</tt> will be
2829 present if any architecture-independent packages are being
2830 uploaded. Architecture wildcards such as <tt>any</tt> must
2831 never occur in the <tt>Architecture</tt> field in
2832 the <file>.changes</file> file.
2836 See <ref id="debianrules"> for information on how to get
2837 the architecture for the build process.
2841 <sect1 id="f-Essential">
2842 <heading><tt>Essential</tt></heading>
2845 This is a boolean field which may occur only in the
2846 control file of a binary package or in a per-package fields
2847 paragraph of a main source control data file.
2851 If set to <tt>yes</tt> then the package management system
2852 will refuse to remove the package (upgrading and replacing
2853 it is still possible). The other possible value is <tt>no</tt>,
2854 which is the same as not having the field at all.
2859 <heading>Package interrelationship fields:
2860 <tt>Depends</tt>, <tt>Pre-Depends</tt>,
2861 <tt>Recommends</tt>, <tt>Suggests</tt>,
2862 <tt>Breaks</tt>, <tt>Conflicts</tt>,
2863 <tt>Provides</tt>, <tt>Replaces</tt>, <tt>Enhances</tt>
2867 These fields describe the package's relationships with
2868 other packages. Their syntax and semantics are described
2869 in <ref id="relationships">.</p>
2872 <sect1 id="f-Standards-Version">
2873 <heading><tt>Standards-Version</tt></heading>
2876 The most recent version of the standards (the policy
2877 manual and associated texts) with which the package
2882 The version number has four components: major and minor
2883 version number and major and minor patch level. When the
2884 standards change in a way that requires every package to
2885 change the major number will be changed. Significant
2886 changes that will require work in many packages will be
2887 signaled by a change to the minor number. The major patch
2888 level will be changed for any change to the meaning of the
2889 standards, however small; the minor patch level will be
2890 changed when only cosmetic, typographical or other edits
2891 are made which neither change the meaning of the document
2892 nor affect the contents of packages.
2896 Thus only the first three components of the policy version
2897 are significant in the <em>Standards-Version</em> control
2898 field, and so either these three components or all four
2899 components may be specified.<footnote>
2900 In the past, people specified the full version number
2901 in the Standards-Version field, for example "2.3.0.0".
2902 Since minor patch-level changes don't introduce new
2903 policy, it was thought it would be better to relax
2904 policy and only require the first 3 components to be
2905 specified, in this example "2.3.0". All four
2906 components may still be used if someone wishes to do so.
2912 <sect1 id="f-Version">
2913 <heading><tt>Version</tt></heading>
2916 The version number of a package. The format is:
2917 [<var>epoch</var><tt>:</tt>]<var>upstream_version</var>[<tt>-</tt><var>debian_revision</var>]
2921 The three components here are:
2923 <tag><var>epoch</var></tag>
2926 This is a single (generally small) unsigned integer. It
2927 may be omitted, in which case zero is assumed. If it is
2928 omitted then the <var>upstream_version</var> may not
2933 It is provided to allow mistakes in the version numbers
2934 of older versions of a package, and also a package's
2935 previous version numbering schemes, to be left behind.
2939 <tag><var>upstream_version</var></tag>
2942 This is the main part of the version number. It is
2943 usually the version number of the original ("upstream")
2944 package from which the <file>.deb</file> file has been made,
2945 if this is applicable. Usually this will be in the same
2946 format as that specified by the upstream author(s);
2947 however, it may need to be reformatted to fit into the
2948 package management system's format and comparison
2953 The comparison behavior of the package management system
2954 with respect to the <var>upstream_version</var> is
2955 described below. The <var>upstream_version</var>
2956 portion of the version number is mandatory.
2960 The <var>upstream_version</var> may contain only
2961 alphanumerics<footnote>
2962 Alphanumerics are <tt>A-Za-z0-9</tt> only.
2964 and the characters <tt>.</tt> <tt>+</tt> <tt>-</tt>
2965 <tt>:</tt> <tt>~</tt> (full stop, plus, hyphen, colon,
2966 tilde) and should start with a digit. If there is no
2967 <var>debian_revision</var> then hyphens are not allowed;
2968 if there is no <var>epoch</var> then colons are not
2973 <tag><var>debian_revision</var></tag>
2976 This part of the version number specifies the version of
2977 the Debian package based on the upstream version. It
2978 may contain only alphanumerics and the characters
2979 <tt>+</tt> <tt>.</tt> <tt>~</tt> (plus, full stop,
2980 tilde) and is compared in the same way as the
2981 <var>upstream_version</var> is.
2985 It is optional; if it isn't present then the
2986 <var>upstream_version</var> may not contain a hyphen.
2987 This format represents the case where a piece of
2988 software was written specifically to be turned into a
2989 Debian package, and so there is only one "debianisation"
2990 of it and therefore no revision indication is required.
2994 It is conventional to restart the
2995 <var>debian_revision</var> at <tt>1</tt> each time the
2996 <var>upstream_version</var> is increased.
3000 The package management system will break the version
3001 number apart at the last hyphen in the string (if there
3002 is one) to determine the <var>upstream_version</var> and
3003 <var>debian_revision</var>. The absence of a
3004 <var>debian_revision</var> is equivalent to a
3005 <var>debian_revision</var> of <tt>0</tt>.
3012 When comparing two version numbers, first the <var>epoch</var>
3013 of each are compared, then the <var>upstream_version</var> if
3014 <var>epoch</var> is equal, and then <var>debian_revision</var>
3015 if <var>upstream_version</var> is also equal.
3016 <var>epoch</var> is compared numerically. The
3017 <var>upstream_version</var> and <var>debian_revision</var>
3018 parts are compared by the package management system using the
3019 following algorithm:
3023 The strings are compared from left to right.
3027 First the initial part of each string consisting entirely of
3028 non-digit characters is determined. These two parts (one of
3029 which may be empty) are compared lexically. If a difference
3030 is found it is returned. The lexical comparison is a
3031 comparison of ASCII values modified so that all the letters
3032 sort earlier than all the non-letters and so that a tilde
3033 sorts before anything, even the end of a part. For example,
3034 the following parts are in sorted order from earliest to
3035 latest: <tt>~~</tt>, <tt>~~a</tt>, <tt>~</tt>, the empty part,
3036 <tt>a</tt>.<footnote>
3037 One common use of <tt>~</tt> is for upstream pre-releases.
3038 For example, <tt>1.0~beta1~svn1245</tt> sorts earlier than
3039 <tt>1.0~beta1</tt>, which sorts earlier than <tt>1.0</tt>.
3044 Then the initial part of the remainder of each string which
3045 consists entirely of digit characters is determined. The
3046 numerical values of these two parts are compared, and any
3047 difference found is returned as the result of the comparison.
3048 For these purposes an empty string (which can only occur at
3049 the end of one or both version strings being compared) counts
3054 These two steps (comparing and removing initial non-digit
3055 strings and initial digit strings) are repeated until a
3056 difference is found or both strings are exhausted.
3060 Note that the purpose of epochs is to allow us to leave behind
3061 mistakes in version numbering, and to cope with situations
3062 where the version numbering scheme changes. It is
3063 <em>not</em> intended to cope with version numbers containing
3064 strings of letters which the package management system cannot
3065 interpret (such as <tt>ALPHA</tt> or <tt>pre-</tt>), or with
3066 silly orderings (the author of this manual has heard of a
3067 package whose versions went <tt>1.1</tt>, <tt>1.2</tt>,
3068 <tt>1.3</tt>, <tt>1</tt>, <tt>2.1</tt>, <tt>2.2</tt>,
3069 <tt>2</tt> and so forth).
3073 <sect1 id="f-Description">
3074 <heading><tt>Description</tt></heading>
3077 In a source or binary control file, the <tt>Description</tt>
3078 field contains a description of the binary package, consisting
3079 of two parts, the synopsis or the short description, and the
3080 long description. The field's format is as follows:
3085 Description: <single line synopsis>
3086 <extended description over several lines>
3091 The lines in the extended description can have these formats:
3097 Those starting with a single space are part of a paragraph.
3098 Successive lines of this form will be word-wrapped when
3099 displayed. The leading space will usually be stripped off.
3103 Those starting with two or more spaces. These will be
3104 displayed verbatim. If the display cannot be panned
3105 horizontally, the displaying program will line wrap them "hard"
3106 (i.e., without taking account of word breaks). If it can they
3107 will be allowed to trail off to the right. None, one or two
3108 initial spaces may be deleted, but the number of spaces
3109 deleted from each line will be the same (so that you can have
3110 indenting work correctly, for example).
3114 Those containing a single space followed by a single full stop
3115 character. These are rendered as blank lines. This is the
3116 <em>only</em> way to get a blank line<footnote>
3117 Completely empty lines will not be rendered as blank lines.
3118 Instead, they will cause the parser to think you're starting
3119 a whole new record in the control file, and will therefore
3120 likely abort with an error.
3125 Those containing a space, a full stop and some more characters.
3126 These are for future expansion. Do not use them.
3132 Do not use tab characters. Their effect is not predictable.
3136 See <ref id="descriptions"> for further information on this.
3140 In a <file>.changes</file> file, the <tt>Description</tt>
3141 field contains a summary of the descriptions for the packages
3142 being uploaded. For this case, the first line of the field
3143 value (the part on the same line as <tt>Description:</tt>) is
3144 always empty. The content of the field is expressed as
3145 continuation lines, one line per package. Each line is
3146 indented by one space and contains the name of a binary
3147 package, a space, a hyphen (<tt>-</tt>), a space, and the
3148 short description line from that package.
3152 <sect1 id="f-Distribution">
3153 <heading><tt>Distribution</tt></heading>
3156 In a <file>.changes</file> file or parsed changelog output
3157 this contains the (space-separated) name(s) of the
3158 distribution(s) where this version of the package should
3159 be installed. Valid distributions are determined by the
3160 archive maintainers.<footnote>
3161 Example distribution names in the Debian archive used in
3162 <file>.changes</file> files are:
3163 <taglist compact="compact">
3164 <tag><em>unstable</em></tag>
3166 This distribution value refers to the
3167 <em>developmental</em> part of the Debian distribution
3168 tree. Most new packages, new upstream versions of
3169 packages and bug fixes go into the <em>unstable</em>
3173 <tag><em>experimental</em></tag>
3175 The packages with this distribution value are deemed
3176 by their maintainers to be high risk. Oftentimes they
3177 represent early beta or developmental packages from
3178 various sources that the maintainers want people to
3179 try, but are not ready to be a part of the other parts
3180 of the Debian distribution tree.
3185 Others are used for updating stable releases or for
3186 security uploads. More information is available in the
3187 Debian Developer's Reference, section "The Debian
3191 The Debian archive software only supports listing a single
3192 distribution. Migration of packages to other distributions is
3193 handled outside of the upload process.
3198 <heading><tt>Date</tt></heading>
3201 This field includes the date the package was built or last edited.
3205 The value of this field is usually extracted from the
3206 <file>debian/changelog</file> file - see
3207 <ref id="dpkgchangelog">).
3211 <sect1 id="f-Format">
3212 <heading><tt>Format</tt></heading>
3215 This field specifies a format revision for the file.
3216 The most current format described in the Policy Manual
3217 is version <strong>1.5</strong>. The syntax of the
3218 format value is the same as that of a package version
3219 number except that no epoch or Debian revision is allowed
3220 - see <ref id="f-Version">.
3224 <sect1 id="f-Urgency">
3225 <heading><tt>Urgency</tt></heading>
3228 This is a description of how important it is to upgrade to
3229 this version from previous ones. It consists of a single
3230 keyword taking one of the values <tt>low</tt>,
3231 <tt>medium</tt>, <tt>high</tt>, <tt>emergency</tt>, or
3232 <tt>critical</tt><footnote>
3233 Other urgency values are supported with configuration
3234 changes in the archive software but are not used in Debian.
3235 The urgency affects how quickly a package will be considered
3236 for inclusion into the <tt>testing</tt> distribution and
3237 gives an indication of the importance of any fixes included
3238 in the upload. <tt>Emergency</tt> and <tt>critical</tt> are
3239 treated as synonymous.
3240 </footnote> (not case-sensitive) followed by an optional
3241 commentary (separated by a space) which is usually in
3242 parentheses. For example:
3245 Urgency: low (HIGH for users of diversions)
3251 The value of this field is usually extracted from the
3252 <file>debian/changelog</file> file - see
3253 <ref id="dpkgchangelog">.
3257 <sect1 id="f-Changes">
3258 <heading><tt>Changes</tt></heading>
3261 This field contains the human-readable changes data, describing
3262 the differences between the last version and the current one.
3266 The first line of the field value (the part on the same line
3267 as <tt>Changes:</tt>) is always empty. The content of the
3268 field is expressed as continuation lines, with each line
3269 indented by at least one space. Blank lines must be
3270 represented by a line consisting only of a space and a full
3275 The value of this field is usually extracted from the
3276 <file>debian/changelog</file> file - see
3277 <ref id="dpkgchangelog">).
3281 Each version's change information should be preceded by a
3282 "title" line giving at least the version, distribution(s)
3283 and urgency, in a human-readable way.
3287 If data from several versions is being returned the entry
3288 for the most recent version should be returned first, and
3289 entries should be separated by the representation of a
3290 blank line (the "title" line may also be followed by the
3291 representation of a blank line).
3295 <sect1 id="f-Binary">
3296 <heading><tt>Binary</tt></heading>
3299 This field is a list of binary packages. Its syntax and
3300 meaning varies depending on the control file in which it
3305 When it appears in the <file>.dsc</file> file, it lists binary
3306 packages which a source package can produce, separated by
3308 A space after each comma is conventional.
3309 </footnote>. It may span multiple lines. The source package
3310 does not necessarily produce all of these binary packages for
3311 every architecture. The source control file doesn't contain
3312 details of which architectures are appropriate for which of
3313 the binary packages.
3317 When it appears in a <file>.changes</file> file, it lists the
3318 names of the binary packages being uploaded, separated by
3319 whitespace (not commas). It may span multiple lines.
3323 <sect1 id="f-Installed-Size">
3324 <heading><tt>Installed-Size</tt></heading>
3327 This field appears in the control files of binary packages,
3328 and in the <file>Packages</file> files. It gives an estimate
3329 of the total amount of disk space required to install the
3330 named package. Actual installed size may vary based on block
3331 size, file system properties, or actions taken by package
3336 The disk space is given as the integer value of the estimated
3337 installed size in bytes, divided by 1024 and rounded up.
3341 <sect1 id="f-Files">
3342 <heading><tt>Files</tt></heading>
3345 This field contains a list of files with information about
3346 each one. The exact information and syntax varies with
3351 In all cases, Files is a multiline field. The first line of
3352 the field value (the part on the same line as <tt>Files:</tt>)
3353 is always empty. The content of the field is expressed as
3354 continuation lines, one line per file. Each line must be
3355 indented by one space and contain a number of sub-fields,
3356 separated by spaces, as described below.
3360 In the <file>.dsc</file> file, each line contains the MD5
3361 checksum, size and filename of the tar file and (if
3362 applicable) diff file which make up the remainder of the
3363 source package<footnote>
3364 That is, the parts which are not the <tt>.dsc</tt>.
3365 </footnote>. For example:
3368 c6f698f19f2a2aa07dbb9bbda90a2754 571925 example_1.2.orig.tar.gz
3369 938512f08422f3509ff36f125f5873ba 6220 example_1.2-1.diff.gz
3371 The exact forms of the filenames are described
3372 in <ref id="pkg-sourcearchives">.
3376 In the <file>.changes</file> file this contains one line per
3377 file being uploaded. Each line contains the MD5 checksum,
3378 size, section and priority and the filename. For example:
3381 4c31ab7bfc40d3cf49d7811987390357 1428 text extra example_1.2-1.dsc
3382 c6f698f19f2a2aa07dbb9bbda90a2754 571925 text extra example_1.2.orig.tar.gz
3383 938512f08422f3509ff36f125f5873ba 6220 text extra example_1.2-1.diff.gz
3384 7c98fe853b3bbb47a00e5cd129b6cb56 703542 text extra example_1.2-1_i386.deb
3386 The <qref id="f-Section">section</qref>
3387 and <qref id="f-Priority">priority</qref> are the values of
3388 the corresponding fields in the main source control file. If
3389 no section or priority is specified then <tt>-</tt> should be
3390 used, though section and priority values must be specified for
3391 new packages to be installed properly.
3395 The special value <tt>byhand</tt> for the section in a
3396 <tt>.changes</tt> file indicates that the file in question
3397 is not an ordinary package file and must by installed by
3398 hand by the distribution maintainers. If the section is
3399 <tt>byhand</tt> the priority should be <tt>-</tt>.
3403 If a new Debian revision of a package is being shipped and
3404 no new original source archive is being distributed the
3405 <tt>.dsc</tt> must still contain the <tt>Files</tt> field
3406 entry for the original source archive
3407 <file><var>package</var>_<var>upstream-version</var>.orig.tar.gz</file>,
3408 but the <file>.changes</file> file should leave it out. In
3409 this case the original source archive on the distribution
3410 site must match exactly, byte-for-byte, the original
3411 source archive which was used to generate the
3412 <file>.dsc</file> file and diff which are being uploaded.</p>
3415 <sect1 id="f-Closes">
3416 <heading><tt>Closes</tt></heading>
3419 A space-separated list of bug report numbers that the upload
3420 governed by the .changes file closes.
3424 <sect1 id="f-Homepage">
3425 <heading><tt>Homepage</tt></heading>
3428 The URL of the web site for this package, preferably (when
3429 applicable) the site from which the original source can be
3430 obtained and any additional upstream documentation or
3431 information may be found. The content of this field is a
3432 simple URL without any surrounding characters such as
3440 <heading>User-defined fields</heading>
3443 Additional user-defined fields may be added to the
3444 source package control file. Such fields will be
3445 ignored, and not copied to (for example) binary or
3446 source package control files or upload control files.
3450 If you wish to add additional unsupported fields to
3451 these output files you should use the mechanism
3456 Fields in the main source control information file with
3457 names starting <tt>X</tt>, followed by one or more of
3458 the letters <tt>BCS</tt> and a hyphen <tt>-</tt>, will
3459 be copied to the output files. Only the part of the
3460 field name after the hyphen will be used in the output
3461 file. Where the letter <tt>B</tt> is used the field
3462 will appear in binary package control files, where the
3463 letter <tt>S</tt> is used in source package control
3464 files and where <tt>C</tt> is used in upload control
3465 (<tt>.changes</tt>) files.
3469 For example, if the main source information control file
3472 XBS-Comment: I stand between the candle and the star.
3474 then the binary and source package control files will contain the
3477 Comment: I stand between the candle and the star.
3486 <chapt id="maintainerscripts">
3487 <heading>Package maintainer scripts and installation procedure</heading>
3490 <heading>Introduction to package maintainer scripts</heading>
3493 It is possible to supply scripts as part of a package which
3494 the package management system will run for you when your
3495 package is installed, upgraded or removed.
3499 These scripts are the files <prgn>preinst</prgn>,
3500 <prgn>postinst</prgn>, <prgn>prerm</prgn> and
3501 <prgn>postrm</prgn> in the control area of the package.
3502 They must be proper executable files; if they are scripts
3503 (which is recommended), they must start with the usual
3504 <tt>#!</tt> convention. They should be readable and
3505 executable by anyone, and must not be world-writable.
3509 The package management system looks at the exit status from
3510 these scripts. It is important that they exit with a
3511 non-zero status if there is an error, so that the package
3512 management system can stop its processing. For shell
3513 scripts this means that you <em>almost always</em> need to
3514 use <tt>set -e</tt> (this is usually true when writing shell
3515 scripts, in fact). It is also important, of course, that
3516 they exit with a zero status if everything went well.
3520 Additionally, packages interacting with users using
3521 <tt>debconf</tt> in the <prgn>postinst</prgn> script should
3522 install a <prgn>config</prgn> script in the control area,
3523 see <ref id="maintscriptprompt"> for details.
3527 When a package is upgraded a combination of the scripts from
3528 the old and new packages is called during the upgrade
3529 procedure. If your scripts are going to be at all
3530 complicated you need to be aware of this, and may need to
3531 check the arguments to your scripts.
3535 Broadly speaking the <prgn>preinst</prgn> is called before
3536 (a particular version of) a package is installed, and the
3537 <prgn>postinst</prgn> afterwards; the <prgn>prerm</prgn>
3538 before (a version of) a package is removed and the
3539 <prgn>postrm</prgn> afterwards.
3543 Programs called from maintainer scripts should not normally
3544 have a path prepended to them. Before installation is
3545 started, the package management system checks to see if the
3546 programs <prgn>ldconfig</prgn>,
3547 <prgn>start-stop-daemon</prgn>, <prgn>install-info</prgn>,
3548 and <prgn>update-rc.d</prgn> can be found via the
3549 <tt>PATH</tt> environment variable. Those programs, and any
3550 other program that one would expect to be in the
3551 <tt>PATH</tt>, should thus be invoked without an absolute
3552 pathname. Maintainer scripts should also not reset the
3553 <tt>PATH</tt>, though they might choose to modify it by
3554 prepending or appending package-specific directories. These
3555 considerations really apply to all shell scripts.</p>
3558 <sect id="idempotency">
3559 <heading>Maintainer scripts idempotency</heading>
3562 It is necessary for the error recovery procedures that the
3563 scripts be idempotent. This means that if it is run
3564 successfully, and then it is called again, it doesn't bomb
3565 out or cause any harm, but just ensures that everything is
3566 the way it ought to be. If the first call failed, or
3567 aborted half way through for some reason, the second call
3568 should merely do the things that were left undone the first
3569 time, if any, and exit with a success status if everything
3571 This is so that if an error occurs, the user interrupts
3572 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> or some other unforeseen circumstance
3573 happens you don't leave the user with a badly-broken
3574 package when <prgn>dpkg</prgn> attempts to repeat the
3580 <sect id="controllingterminal">
3581 <heading>Controlling terminal for maintainer scripts</heading>
3584 The maintainer scripts are guaranteed to run with a
3585 controlling terminal and can interact with the user.
3586 Because these scripts may be executed with standard output
3587 redirected into a pipe for logging purposes, Perl scripts
3588 should set unbuffered output by setting <tt>$|=1</tt> so
3589 that the output is printed immediately rather than being
3593 <sect id="exitstatus">
3594 <heading>Exit status</heading>
3597 Each script must return a zero exit status for
3598 success, or a nonzero one for failure, since the package
3599 management system looks for the exit status of these scripts
3600 and determines what action to take next based on that datum.
3604 <sect id="mscriptsinstact"><heading>Summary of ways maintainer
3609 <list compact="compact">
3611 <var>new-preinst</var> <tt>install</tt>
3614 <var>new-preinst</var> <tt>install</tt> <var>old-version</var>
3617 <var>new-preinst</var> <tt>upgrade</tt> <var>old-version</var>
3620 <var>old-preinst</var> <tt>abort-upgrade</tt>
3621 <var>new-version</var>
3626 <list compact="compact">
3628 <var>postinst</var> <tt>configure</tt>
3629 <var>most-recently-configured-version</var>
3632 <var>old-postinst</var> <tt>abort-upgrade</tt>
3633 <var>new-version</var>
3636 <var>conflictor's-postinst</var> <tt>abort-remove</tt>
3637 <tt>in-favour</tt> <var>package</var>
3638 <var>new-version</var>
3641 <var>postinst</var> <tt>abort-remove</tt>
3644 <var>deconfigured's-postinst</var>
3645 <tt>abort-deconfigure</tt> <tt>in-favour</tt>
3646 <var>failed-install-package</var> <var>version</var>
3647 [<tt>removing</tt> <var>conflicting-package</var>
3653 <list compact="compact">
3655 <var>prerm</var> <tt>remove</tt>
3658 <var>old-prerm</var> <tt>upgrade</tt>
3659 <var>new-version</var>
3662 <var>new-prerm</var> <tt>failed-upgrade</tt>
3663 <var>old-version</var>
3666 <var>conflictor's-prerm</var> <tt>remove</tt>
3667 <tt>in-favour</tt> <var>package</var>
3668 <var>new-version</var>
3671 <var>deconfigured's-prerm</var> <tt>deconfigure</tt>
3672 <tt>in-favour</tt> <var>package-being-installed</var>
3673 <var>version</var> [<tt>removing</tt>
3674 <var>conflicting-package</var>
3680 <list compact="compact">
3682 <var>postrm</var> <tt>remove</tt>
3685 <var>postrm</var> <tt>purge</tt>
3688 <var>old-postrm</var> <tt>upgrade</tt>
3689 <var>new-version</var>
3692 <var>new-postrm</var> <tt>failed-upgrade</tt>
3693 <var>old-version</var>
3696 <var>new-postrm</var> <tt>abort-install</tt>
3699 <var>new-postrm</var> <tt>abort-install</tt>
3700 <var>old-version</var>
3703 <var>new-postrm</var> <tt>abort-upgrade</tt>
3704 <var>old-version</var>
3707 <var>disappearer's-postrm</var> <tt>disappear</tt>
3708 <var>overwriter</var>
3709 <var>overwriter-version</var>
3715 <sect id="unpackphase">
3716 <heading>Details of unpack phase of installation or upgrade</heading>
3719 The procedure on installation/upgrade/overwrite/disappear
3720 (i.e., when running <tt>dpkg --unpack</tt>, or the unpack
3721 stage of <tt>dpkg --install</tt>) is as follows. In each
3722 case, if a major error occurs (unless listed below) the
3723 actions are, in general, run backwards - this means that the
3724 maintainer scripts are run with different arguments in
3725 reverse order. These are the "error unwind" calls listed
3732 If a version of the package is already installed, call
3733 <example compact="compact">
3734 <var>old-prerm</var> upgrade <var>new-version</var>
3738 If the script runs but exits with a non-zero
3739 exit status, <prgn>dpkg</prgn> will attempt:
3740 <example compact="compact">
3741 <var>new-prerm</var> failed-upgrade <var>old-version</var>
3743 If this works, the upgrade continues. If this
3744 does not work, the error unwind:
3745 <example compact="compact">
3746 <var>old-postinst</var> abort-upgrade <var>new-version</var>
3748 If this works, then the old-version is
3749 "Installed", if not, the old version is in a
3750 "Half-Configured" state.
3756 If a "conflicting" package is being removed at the same time,
3757 or if any package will be broken (due to <tt>Breaks</tt>):
3760 If <tt>--auto-deconfigure</tt> is
3761 specified, call, for each package to be deconfigured
3762 due to <tt>Breaks</tt>:
3763 <example compact="compact">
3764 <var>deconfigured's-prerm</var> deconfigure \
3765 in-favour <var>package-being-installed</var> <var>version</var>
3768 <example compact="compact">
3769 <var>deconfigured's-postinst</var> abort-deconfigure \
3770 in-favour <var>package-being-installed-but-failed</var> <var>version</var>
3772 The deconfigured packages are marked as
3773 requiring configuration, so that if
3774 <tt>--install</tt> is used they will be
3775 configured again if possible.
3778 If any packages depended on a conflicting
3779 package being removed and <tt>--auto-deconfigure</tt> is
3780 specified, call, for each such package:
3781 <example compact="compact">
3782 <var>deconfigured's-prerm</var> deconfigure \
3783 in-favour <var>package-being-installed</var> <var>version</var> \
3784 removing <var>conflicting-package</var> <var>version</var>
3787 <example compact="compact">
3788 <var>deconfigured's-postinst</var> abort-deconfigure \
3789 in-favour <var>package-being-installed-but-failed</var> <var>version</var> \
3790 removing <var>conflicting-package</var> <var>version</var>
3792 The deconfigured packages are marked as
3793 requiring configuration, so that if
3794 <tt>--install</tt> is used they will be
3795 configured again if possible.
3798 To prepare for removal of each conflicting package, call:
3799 <example compact="compact">
3800 <var>conflictor's-prerm</var> remove \
3801 in-favour <var>package</var> <var>new-version</var>
3804 <example compact="compact">
3805 <var>conflictor's-postinst</var> abort-remove \
3806 in-favour <var>package</var> <var>new-version</var>
3815 If the package is being upgraded, call:
3816 <example compact="compact">
3817 <var>new-preinst</var> upgrade <var>old-version</var>
3819 If this fails, we call:
3821 <var>new-postrm</var> abort-upgrade <var>old-version</var>
3828 <var>old-postinst</var> abort-upgrade <var>new-version</var>
3830 is called. If this works, then the old version
3831 is in an "Installed" state, or else it is left
3832 in an "Unpacked" state.
3837 If it fails, then the old version is left
3838 in an "Half-Installed" state.
3845 Otherwise, if the package had some configuration
3846 files from a previous version installed (i.e., it
3847 is in the "configuration files only" state):
3848 <example compact="compact">
3849 <var>new-preinst</var> install <var>old-version</var>
3853 <var>new-postrm</var> abort-install <var>old-version</var>
3855 If this fails, the package is left in a
3856 "Half-Installed" state, which requires a
3857 reinstall. If it works, the packages is left in
3858 a "Config-Files" state.
3861 Otherwise (i.e., the package was completely purged):
3862 <example compact="compact">
3863 <var>new-preinst</var> install
3866 <example compact="compact">
3867 <var>new-postrm</var> abort-install
3869 If the error-unwind fails, the package is in a
3870 "Half-Installed" phase, and requires a
3871 reinstall. If the error unwind works, the
3872 package is in a not installed state.
3879 The new package's files are unpacked, overwriting any
3880 that may be on the system already, for example any
3881 from the old version of the same package or from
3882 another package. Backups of the old files are kept
3883 temporarily, and if anything goes wrong the package
3884 management system will attempt to put them back as
3885 part of the error unwind.
3889 It is an error for a package to contain files which
3890 are on the system in another package, unless
3891 <tt>Replaces</tt> is used (see <ref id="replaces">).
3893 The following paragraph is not currently the case:
3894 Currently the <tt>- - force-overwrite</tt> flag is
3895 enabled, downgrading it to a warning, but this may not
3901 It is a more serious error for a package to contain a
3902 plain file or other kind of non-directory where another
3903 package has a directory (again, unless
3904 <tt>Replaces</tt> is used). This error can be
3905 overridden if desired using
3906 <tt>--force-overwrite-dir</tt>, but this is not
3911 Packages which overwrite each other's files produce
3912 behavior which, though deterministic, is hard for the
3913 system administrator to understand. It can easily
3914 lead to "missing" programs if, for example, a package
3915 is installed which overwrites a file from another
3916 package, and is then removed again.<footnote>
3917 Part of the problem is due to what is arguably a
3918 bug in <prgn>dpkg</prgn>.
3923 A directory will never be replaced by a symbolic link
3924 to a directory or vice versa; instead, the existing
3925 state (symlink or not) will be left alone and
3926 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> will follow the symlink if there is
3935 If the package is being upgraded, call
3936 <example compact="compact">
3937 <var>old-postrm</var> upgrade <var>new-version</var>
3941 If this fails, <prgn>dpkg</prgn> will attempt:
3942 <example compact="compact">
3943 <var>new-postrm</var> failed-upgrade <var>old-version</var>
3945 If this works, installation continues. If not,
3947 <example compact="compact">
3948 <var>old-preinst</var> abort-upgrade <var>new-version</var>
3950 If this fails, the old version is left in a
3951 "Half-Installed" state. If it works, dpkg now
3953 <example compact="compact">
3954 <var>new-postrm</var> abort-upgrade <var>old-version</var>
3956 If this fails, the old version is left in a
3957 "Half-Installed" state. If it works, dpkg now
3959 <example compact="compact">
3960 <var>old-postinst</var> abort-upgrade <var>new-version</var>
3962 If this fails, the old version is in an
3969 This is the point of no return - if
3970 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> gets this far, it won't back off
3971 past this point if an error occurs. This will
3972 leave the package in a fairly bad state, which
3973 will require a successful re-installation to clear
3974 up, but it's when <prgn>dpkg</prgn> starts doing
3975 things that are irreversible.
3980 Any files which were in the old version of the package
3981 but not in the new are removed.
3985 The new file list replaces the old.
3989 The new maintainer scripts replace the old.
3993 Any packages all of whose files have been overwritten
3994 during the installation, and which aren't required for
3995 dependencies, are considered to have been removed.
3996 For each such package
3999 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> calls:
4000 <example compact="compact">
4001 <var>disappearer's-postrm</var> disappear \
4002 <var>overwriter</var> <var>overwriter-version</var>
4006 The package's maintainer scripts are removed.
4009 It is noted in the status database as being in a
4010 sane state, namely not installed (any conffiles
4011 it may have are ignored, rather than being
4012 removed by <prgn>dpkg</prgn>). Note that
4013 disappearing packages do not have their prerm
4014 called, because <prgn>dpkg</prgn> doesn't know
4015 in advance that the package is going to
4022 Any files in the package we're unpacking that are also
4023 listed in the file lists of other packages are removed
4024 from those lists. (This will lobotomize the file list
4025 of the "conflicting" package if there is one.)
4029 The backup files made during installation, above, are
4035 The new package's status is now sane, and recorded as
4040 Here is another point of no return - if the
4041 conflicting package's removal fails we do not unwind
4042 the rest of the installation; the conflicting package
4043 is left in a half-removed limbo.
4048 If there was a conflicting package we go and do the
4049 removal actions (described below), starting with the
4050 removal of the conflicting package's files (any that
4051 are also in the package being installed have already
4052 been removed from the conflicting package's file list,
4053 and so do not get removed now).
4059 <sect id="configdetails"><heading>Details of configuration</heading>
4062 When we configure a package (this happens with <tt>dpkg
4063 --install</tt> and <tt>dpkg --configure</tt>), we first
4064 update any <tt>conffile</tt>s and then call:
4065 <example compact="compact">
4066 <var>postinst</var> configure <var>most-recently-configured-version</var>
4071 No attempt is made to unwind after errors during
4072 configuration. If the configuration fails, the package is in
4073 a "Failed Config" state, and an error message is generated.
4077 If there is no most recently configured version
4078 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> will pass a null argument.
4081 Historical note: Truly ancient (pre-1997) versions of
4082 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> passed <tt><unknown></tt>
4083 (including the angle brackets) in this case. Even older
4084 ones did not pass a second argument at all, under any
4085 circumstance. Note that upgrades using such an old dpkg
4086 version are unlikely to work for other reasons, even if
4087 this old argument behavior is handled by your postinst script.
4093 <sect id="removedetails"><heading>Details of removal and/or
4094 configuration purging</heading>
4100 <example compact="compact">
4101 <var>prerm</var> remove
4105 If prerm fails during replacement due to conflict
4107 <var>conflictor's-postinst</var> abort-remove \
4108 in-favour <var>package</var> <var>new-version</var>
4112 <var>postinst</var> abort-remove
4116 If this fails, the package is in a "Half-Configured"
4117 state, or else it remains "Installed".
4121 The package's files are removed (except <tt>conffile</tt>s).
4124 <example compact="compact">
4125 <var>postrm</var> remove
4129 If it fails, there's no error unwind, and the package is in
4130 an "Half-Installed" state.
4135 All the maintainer scripts except the <prgn>postrm</prgn>
4140 If we aren't purging the package we stop here. Note
4141 that packages which have no <prgn>postrm</prgn> and no
4142 <tt>conffile</tt>s are automatically purged when
4143 removed, as there is no difference except for the
4144 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> status.
4148 The <tt>conffile</tt>s and any backup files
4149 (<tt>~</tt>-files, <tt>#*#</tt> files,
4150 <tt>%</tt>-files, <tt>.dpkg-{old,new,tmp}</tt>, etc.)
4155 <example compact="compact">
4156 <var>postrm</var> purge
4160 If this fails, the package remains in a "Config-Files"
4165 The package's file list is removed.
4174 <chapt id="relationships">
4175 <heading>Declaring relationships between packages</heading>
4177 <sect id="depsyntax">
4178 <heading>Syntax of relationship fields</heading>
4181 These fields all have a uniform syntax. They are a list of
4182 package names separated by commas.
4186 In the <tt>Depends</tt>, <tt>Recommends</tt>,
4187 <tt>Suggests</tt>, <tt>Pre-Depends</tt>,
4188 <tt>Build-Depends</tt> and <tt>Build-Depends-Indep</tt>
4189 control file fields of the package, which declare
4190 dependencies on other packages, the package names listed may
4191 also include lists of alternative package names, separated
4192 by vertical bar (pipe) symbols <tt>|</tt>. In such a case,
4193 if any one of the alternative packages is installed, that
4194 part of the dependency is considered to be satisfied.
4198 All of the fields except for <tt>Provides</tt> may restrict
4199 their applicability to particular versions of each named
4200 package. This is done in parentheses after each individual
4201 package name; the parentheses should contain a relation from
4202 the list below followed by a version number, in the format
4203 described in <ref id="f-Version">.
4207 The relations allowed are <tt><<</tt>, <tt><=</tt>,
4208 <tt>=</tt>, <tt>>=</tt> and <tt>>></tt> for
4209 strictly earlier, earlier or equal, exactly equal, later or
4210 equal and strictly later, respectively. The deprecated
4211 forms <tt><</tt> and <tt>></tt> were used to mean
4212 earlier/later or equal, rather than strictly earlier/later,
4213 so they should not appear in new packages (though
4214 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> still supports them).
4218 Whitespace may appear at any point in the version
4219 specification subject to the rules in <ref
4220 id="controlsyntax">, and must appear where it's necessary to
4221 disambiguate; it is not otherwise significant. All of the
4222 relationship fields may span multiple lines. For
4223 consistency and in case of future changes to
4224 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> it is recommended that a single space be
4225 used after a version relationship and before a version
4226 number; it is also conventional to put a single space after
4227 each comma, on either side of each vertical bar, and before
4228 each open parenthesis. When wrapping a relationship field, it
4229 is conventional to do so after a comma and before the space
4230 following that comma.
4234 For example, a list of dependencies might appear as:
4235 <example compact="compact">
4238 Depends: libc6 (>= 2.2.1), exim | mail-transport-agent
4243 All fields that specify build-time relationships
4244 (<tt>Build-Depends</tt>, <tt>Build-Depends-Indep</tt>,
4245 <tt>Build-Conflicts</tt> and <tt>Build-Conflicts-Indep</tt>)
4246 may be restricted to a certain set of architectures. This
4247 is indicated in brackets after each individual package name and
4248 the optional version specification. The brackets enclose a
4249 list of Debian architecture names separated by whitespace.
4250 Exclamation marks may be prepended to each of the names.
4251 (It is not permitted for some names to be prepended with
4252 exclamation marks while others aren't.) If the current Debian
4253 host architecture is not in this list and there are no
4254 exclamation marks in the list, or it is in the list with a
4255 prepended exclamation mark, the package name and the
4256 associated version specification are ignored completely for
4257 the purposes of defining the relationships.
4262 <example compact="compact">
4264 Build-Depends-Indep: texinfo
4265 Build-Depends: kernel-headers-2.2.10 [!hurd-i386],
4266 hurd-dev [hurd-i386], gnumach-dev [hurd-i386]
4268 requires <tt>kernel-headers-2.2.10</tt> on all architectures
4269 other than hurd-i386 and requires <tt>hurd-dev</tt> and
4270 <tt>gnumach-dev</tt> only on hurd-i386.
4274 If the architecture-restricted dependency is part of a set of
4275 alternatives using <tt>|</tt>, that alternative is ignored
4276 completely on architectures that do not match the restriction.
4278 <example compact="compact">
4279 Build-Depends: foo [!i386] | bar [!amd64]
4281 is equivalent to <tt>bar</tt> on the i386 architecture, to
4282 <tt>foo</tt> on the amd64 architecture, and to <tt>foo |
4283 bar</tt> on all other architectures.
4287 All fields that specify build-time relationships may also be
4288 restricted to a certain set of architectures using architecture
4289 wildcards. The syntax for declaring such restrictions is the
4290 same as declaring restrictions using a certain set of
4291 architectures without architecture wildcards. For example:
4292 <example compact="compact">
4293 Build-Depends: foo [linux-any], bar [any-i386], baz [!linux-any]
4295 is equivalent to <tt>foo</tt> on architectures using the Linux
4296 kernel and any cpu, <tt>bar</tt> on architectures using any
4297 kernel and an i386 cpu, and <tt>baz</tt> on any architecture
4298 using a kernel other than Linux.
4302 Note that the binary package relationship fields such as
4303 <tt>Depends</tt> appear in one of the binary package
4304 sections of the control file, whereas the build-time
4305 relationships such as <tt>Build-Depends</tt> appear in the
4306 source package section of the control file (which is the
4311 <sect id="binarydeps">
4312 <heading>Binary Dependencies - <tt>Depends</tt>,
4313 <tt>Recommends</tt>, <tt>Suggests</tt>, <tt>Enhances</tt>,
4314 <tt>Pre-Depends</tt>
4318 Packages can declare in their control file that they have
4319 certain relationships to other packages - for example, that
4320 they may not be installed at the same time as certain other
4321 packages, and/or that they depend on the presence of others.
4325 This is done using the <tt>Depends</tt>, <tt>Pre-Depends</tt>,
4326 <tt>Recommends</tt>, <tt>Suggests</tt>, <tt>Enhances</tt>,
4327 <tt>Breaks</tt> and <tt>Conflicts</tt> control file fields.
4328 <tt>Breaks</tt> is described in <ref id="breaks">, and
4329 <tt>Conflicts</tt> is described in <ref id="conflicts">. The
4330 rest are described below.
4334 These seven fields are used to declare a dependency
4335 relationship by one package on another. Except for
4336 <tt>Enhances</tt> and <tt>Breaks</tt>, they appear in the
4337 depending (binary) package's control file.
4338 (<tt>Enhances</tt> appears in the recommending package's
4339 control file, and <tt>Breaks</tt> appears in the version of
4340 depended-on package which causes the named package to
4345 A <tt>Depends</tt> field takes effect <em>only</em> when a
4346 package is to be configured. It does not prevent a package
4347 being on the system in an unconfigured state while its
4348 dependencies are unsatisfied, and it is possible to replace
4349 a package whose dependencies are satisfied and which is
4350 properly installed with a different version whose
4351 dependencies are not and cannot be satisfied; when this is
4352 done the depending package will be left unconfigured (since
4353 attempts to configure it will give errors) and will not
4354 function properly. If it is necessary, a
4355 <tt>Pre-Depends</tt> field can be used, which has a partial
4356 effect even when a package is being unpacked, as explained
4357 in detail below. (The other three dependency fields,
4358 <tt>Recommends</tt>, <tt>Suggests</tt> and
4359 <tt>Enhances</tt>, are only used by the various front-ends
4360 to <prgn>dpkg</prgn> such as <prgn>apt-get</prgn>,
4361 <prgn>aptitude</prgn>, and <prgn>dselect</prgn>.)
4365 For this reason packages in an installation run are usually
4366 all unpacked first and all configured later; this gives
4367 later versions of packages with dependencies on later
4368 versions of other packages the opportunity to have their
4369 dependencies satisfied.
4373 In case of circular dependencies, since installation or
4374 removal order honoring the dependency order can't be
4375 established, dependency loops are broken at some point
4376 (based on rules below), and some packages may not be able to
4377 rely on their dependencies being present when being
4378 installed or removed, depending on which side of the break
4379 of the circular dependency loop they happen to be on. If one
4380 of the packages in the loop has no postinst script, then the
4381 cycle will be broken at that package, so as to ensure that
4382 all postinst scripts run with the dependencies properly
4383 configured if this is possible. Otherwise the breaking point
4388 The <tt>Depends</tt> field thus allows package maintainers
4389 to impose an order in which packages should be configured.
4393 The meaning of the five dependency fields is as follows:
4395 <tag><tt>Depends</tt></tag>
4398 This declares an absolute dependency. A package will
4399 not be configured unless all of the packages listed in
4400 its <tt>Depends</tt> field have been correctly
4405 The <tt>Depends</tt> field should be used if the
4406 depended-on package is required for the depending
4407 package to provide a significant amount of
4412 The <tt>Depends</tt> field should also be used if the
4413 <prgn>postinst</prgn>, <prgn>prerm</prgn> or
4414 <prgn>postrm</prgn> scripts require the package to be
4415 present in order to run. Note, however, that the
4416 <prgn>postrm</prgn> cannot rely on any non-essential
4417 packages to be present during the <tt>purge</tt>
4421 <tag><tt>Recommends</tt></tag>
4424 This declares a strong, but not absolute, dependency.
4428 The <tt>Recommends</tt> field should list packages
4429 that would be found together with this one in all but
4430 unusual installations.
4434 <tag><tt>Suggests</tt></tag>
4436 This is used to declare that one package may be more
4437 useful with one or more others. Using this field
4438 tells the packaging system and the user that the
4439 listed packages are related to this one and can
4440 perhaps enhance its usefulness, but that installing
4441 this one without them is perfectly reasonable.
4444 <tag><tt>Enhances</tt></tag>
4446 This field is similar to Suggests but works in the
4447 opposite direction. It is used to declare that a
4448 package can enhance the functionality of another
4452 <tag><tt>Pre-Depends</tt></tag>
4455 This field is like <tt>Depends</tt>, except that it
4456 also forces <prgn>dpkg</prgn> to complete installation
4457 of the packages named before even starting the
4458 installation of the package which declares the
4459 pre-dependency, as follows:
4463 When a package declaring a pre-dependency is about to
4464 be <em>unpacked</em> the pre-dependency can be
4465 satisfied if the depended-on package is either fully
4466 configured, <em>or even if</em> the depended-on
4467 package(s) are only unpacked or in the "Half-Configured"
4468 state, provided that they have been configured
4469 correctly at some point in the past (and not removed
4470 or partially removed since). In this case, both the
4471 previously-configured and currently unpacked or
4472 "Half-Configured" versions must satisfy any version
4473 clause in the <tt>Pre-Depends</tt> field.
4477 When the package declaring a pre-dependency is about
4478 to be <em>configured</em>, the pre-dependency will be
4479 treated as a normal <tt>Depends</tt>, that is, it will
4480 be considered satisfied only if the depended-on
4481 package has been correctly configured.
4485 <tt>Pre-Depends</tt> should be used sparingly,
4486 preferably only by packages whose premature upgrade or
4487 installation would hamper the ability of the system to
4488 continue with any upgrade that might be in progress.
4492 <tt>Pre-Depends</tt> are also required if the
4493 <prgn>preinst</prgn> script depends on the named
4494 package. It is best to avoid this situation if
4502 When selecting which level of dependency to use you should
4503 consider how important the depended-on package is to the
4504 functionality of the one declaring the dependency. Some
4505 packages are composed of components of varying degrees of
4506 importance. Such a package should list using
4507 <tt>Depends</tt> the package(s) which are required by the
4508 more important components. The other components'
4509 requirements may be mentioned as Suggestions or
4510 Recommendations, as appropriate to the components' relative
4516 <heading>Packages which break other packages - <tt>Breaks</tt></heading>
4519 When one binary package declares that it breaks another,
4520 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> will refuse to allow the package which
4521 declares <tt>Breaks</tt> be installed unless the broken
4522 package is deconfigured first, and it will refuse to
4523 allow the broken package to be reconfigured.
4527 A package will not be regarded as causing breakage merely
4528 because its configuration files are still installed; it must
4529 be at least "Half-Installed".
4533 A special exception is made for packages which declare that
4534 they break their own package name or a virtual package which
4535 they provide (see below): this does not count as a real
4540 Normally a <tt>Breaks</tt> entry will have an "earlier than"
4541 version clause; such a <tt>Breaks</tt> is introduced in the
4542 version of an (implicit or explicit) dependency which
4543 violates an assumption or reveals a bug in earlier versions
4544 of the broken package. This use of <tt>Breaks</tt> will
4545 inform higher-level package management tools that broken
4546 package must be upgraded before the new one.
4550 If the breaking package also overwrites some files from the
4551 older package, it should use <tt>Replaces</tt> (not
4552 <tt>Conflicts</tt>) to ensure this goes smoothly.
4556 <sect id="conflicts">
4557 <heading>Conflicting binary packages - <tt>Conflicts</tt></heading>
4560 When one binary package declares a conflict with another
4561 using a <tt>Conflicts</tt> field, <prgn>dpkg</prgn> will
4562 refuse to allow them to be installed on the system at the
4567 If one package is to be installed, the other must be removed
4568 first - if the package being installed is marked as
4569 replacing (see <ref id="replaces">) the one on the system,
4570 or the one on the system is marked as deselected, or both
4571 packages are marked <tt>Essential</tt>, then
4572 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> will automatically remove the package
4573 which is causing the conflict, otherwise it will halt the
4574 installation of the new package with an error. This
4575 mechanism is specifically designed to produce an error when
4576 the installed package is <tt>Essential</tt>, but the new
4581 A package will not cause a conflict merely because its
4582 configuration files are still installed; it must be at least
4587 A special exception is made for packages which declare a
4588 conflict with their own package name, or with a virtual
4589 package which they provide (see below): this does not
4590 prevent their installation, and allows a package to conflict
4591 with others providing a replacement for it. You use this
4592 feature when you want the package in question to be the only
4593 package providing some feature.
4597 A <tt>Conflicts</tt> entry should almost never have an
4598 "earlier than" version clause. This would prevent
4599 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> from upgrading or installing the package
4600 which declared such a conflict until the upgrade or removal
4601 of the conflicted-with package had been completed. Instead,
4602 <tt>Breaks</tt> may be used.
4606 <sect id="virtual"><heading>Virtual packages - <tt>Provides</tt>
4610 As well as the names of actual ("concrete") packages, the
4611 package relationship fields <tt>Depends</tt>,
4612 <tt>Recommends</tt>, <tt>Suggests</tt>, <tt>Enhances</tt>,
4613 <tt>Pre-Depends</tt>, <tt>Breaks</tt>, <tt>Conflicts</tt>,
4614 <tt>Build-Depends</tt>, <tt>Build-Depends-Indep</tt>,
4615 <tt>Build-Conflicts</tt> and <tt>Build-Conflicts-Indep</tt>
4616 may mention "virtual packages".
4620 A <em>virtual package</em> is one which appears in the
4621 <tt>Provides</tt> control file field of another package.
4622 The effect is as if the package(s) which provide a
4623 particular virtual package name had been listed by name
4624 everywhere the virtual package name appears. (See also <ref
4629 If there are both concrete and virtual packages of the same
4630 name, then the dependency may be satisfied (or the conflict
4631 caused) by either the concrete package with the name in
4632 question or any other concrete package which provides the
4633 virtual package with the name in question. This is so that,
4634 for example, supposing we have
4635 <example compact="compact">
4638 </example> and someone else releases an enhanced version of
4639 the <tt>bar</tt> package they can say:
4640 <example compact="compact">
4644 and the <tt>bar-plus</tt> package will now also satisfy the
4645 dependency for the <tt>foo</tt> package.
4649 If a relationship field has a version number attached
4650 then only real packages will be considered to see whether
4651 the relationship is satisfied (or the prohibition violated,
4652 for a conflict or breakage) - it is assumed that a real
4653 package which provides the virtual package is not of the
4654 "right" version. So, a <tt>Provides</tt> field may not
4655 contain version numbers, and the version number of the
4656 concrete package which provides a particular virtual package
4657 will not be looked at when considering a dependency on or
4658 conflict with the virtual package name.
4662 It is likely that the ability will be added in a future
4663 release of <prgn>dpkg</prgn> to specify a version number for
4664 each virtual package it provides. This feature is not yet
4665 present, however, and is expected to be used only
4670 If you want to specify which of a set of real packages
4671 should be the default to satisfy a particular dependency on
4672 a virtual package, you should list the real package as an
4673 alternative before the virtual one.
4678 <sect id="replaces"><heading>Overwriting files and replacing
4679 packages - <tt>Replaces</tt></heading>
4682 Packages can declare in their control file that they should
4683 overwrite files in certain other packages, or completely
4684 replace other packages. The <tt>Replaces</tt> control file
4685 field has these two distinct purposes.
4688 <sect1><heading>Overwriting files in other packages</heading>
4691 Firstly, as mentioned before, it is usually an error for a
4692 package to contain files which are on the system in
4697 However, if the overwriting package declares that it
4698 <tt>Replaces</tt> the one containing the file being
4699 overwritten, then <prgn>dpkg</prgn> will replace the file
4700 from the old package with that from the new. The file
4701 will no longer be listed as "owned" by the old package.
4705 If a package is completely replaced in this way, so that
4706 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> does not know of any files it still
4707 contains, it is considered to have "disappeared". It will
4708 be marked as not wanted on the system (selected for
4709 removal) and not installed. Any <tt>conffile</tt>s
4710 details noted for the package will be ignored, as they
4711 will have been taken over by the overwriting package. The
4712 package's <prgn>postrm</prgn> script will be run with a
4713 special argument to allow the package to do any final
4714 cleanup required. See <ref id="mscriptsinstact">.
4717 Replaces is a one way relationship -- you have to
4718 install the replacing package after the replaced
4725 For this usage of <tt>Replaces</tt>, virtual packages (see
4726 <ref id="virtual">) are not considered when looking at a
4727 <tt>Replaces</tt> field - the packages declared as being
4728 replaced must be mentioned by their real names.
4732 Furthermore, this usage of <tt>Replaces</tt> only takes
4733 effect when both packages are at least partially on the
4734 system at once, so that it can only happen if they do not
4735 conflict or if the conflict has been overridden.
4740 <sect1><heading>Replacing whole packages, forcing their
4744 Secondly, <tt>Replaces</tt> allows the packaging system to
4745 resolve which package should be removed when there is a
4746 conflict - see <ref id="conflicts">. This usage only
4747 takes effect when the two packages <em>do</em> conflict,
4748 so that the two usages of this field do not interfere with
4753 In this situation, the package declared as being replaced
4754 can be a virtual package, so for example, all mail
4755 transport agents (MTAs) would have the following fields in
4756 their control files:
4757 <example compact="compact">
4758 Provides: mail-transport-agent
4759 Conflicts: mail-transport-agent
4760 Replaces: mail-transport-agent
4762 ensuring that only one MTA can be installed at any one
4767 <sect id="sourcebinarydeps">
4768 <heading>Relationships between source and binary packages -
4769 <tt>Build-Depends</tt>, <tt>Build-Depends-Indep</tt>,
4770 <tt>Build-Conflicts</tt>, <tt>Build-Conflicts-Indep</tt>
4774 Source packages that require certain binary packages to be
4775 installed or absent at the time of building the package
4776 can declare relationships to those binary packages.
4780 This is done using the <tt>Build-Depends</tt>,
4781 <tt>Build-Depends-Indep</tt>, <tt>Build-Conflicts</tt> and
4782 <tt>Build-Conflicts-Indep</tt> control file fields.
4786 Build-dependencies on "build-essential" binary packages can be
4787 omitted. Please see <ref id="pkg-relations"> for more information.
4791 The dependencies and conflicts they define must be satisfied
4792 (as defined earlier for binary packages) in order to invoke
4793 the targets in <tt>debian/rules</tt>, as follows:<footnote>
4795 If you make "build-arch" or "binary-arch", you need
4796 Build-Depends. If you make "build-indep" or
4797 "binary-indep", you need Build-Depends and
4798 Build-Depends-Indep. If you make "build" or "binary",
4802 There is no Build-Depends-Arch; this role is essentially
4803 met with Build-Depends. Anyone building the
4804 <tt>build-indep</tt> and binary-indep<tt></tt> targets
4805 is basically assumed to be building the whole package
4806 anyway and so installs all build dependencies. The
4807 autobuilders use <tt>dpkg-buildpackage -B</tt>, which
4808 calls <tt>build</tt> (not <tt>build-arch</tt>, since it
4809 does not yet know how to check for its existence) and
4810 <tt>binary-arch</tt>.
4813 The purpose of the original split, I recall, was so that
4814 the autobuilders wouldn't need to install extra packages
4815 needed only for the binary-indep targets. But without a
4816 build-arch/build-indep split, this didn't work, since
4817 most of the work is done in the build target, not in the
4823 <tag><tt>Build-Depends</tt>, <tt>Build-Conflicts</tt></tag>
4825 The <tt>Build-Depends</tt> and
4826 <tt>Build-Conflicts</tt> fields must be satisfied when
4827 any of the following targets is invoked:
4828 <tt>build</tt>, <tt>clean</tt>, <tt>binary</tt>,
4829 <tt>binary-arch</tt>, <tt>build-arch</tt>,
4830 <tt>build-indep</tt> and <tt>binary-indep</tt>.
4832 <tag><tt>Build-Depends-Indep</tt>,
4833 <tt>Build-Conflicts-Indep</tt></tag>
4835 The <tt>Build-Depends-Indep</tt> and
4836 <tt>Build-Conflicts-Indep</tt> fields must be
4837 satisfied when any of the following targets is
4838 invoked: <tt>build</tt>, <tt>build-indep</tt>,
4839 <tt>binary</tt> and <tt>binary-indep</tt>.
4849 <chapt id="sharedlibs"><heading>Shared libraries</heading>
4852 Packages containing shared libraries must be constructed with
4853 a little care to make sure that the shared library is always
4854 available. This is especially important for packages whose
4855 shared libraries are vitally important, such as the C library
4856 (currently <tt>libc6</tt>).
4860 Packages involving shared libraries should be split up into
4861 several binary packages. This section mostly deals with how
4862 this separation is to be accomplished; rules for files within
4863 the shared library packages are in <ref id="libraries"> instead.
4866 <sect id="sharedlibs-runtime">
4867 <heading>Run-time shared libraries</heading>
4870 The run-time shared library needs to be placed in a package
4871 whose name changes whenever the shared object version
4874 Since it is common place to install several versions of a
4875 package that just provides shared libraries, it is a
4876 good idea that the library package should not
4877 contain any extraneous non-versioned files, unless they
4878 happen to be in versioned directories.</p>
4880 The most common mechanism is to place it in a package
4882 <package><var>libraryname</var><var>soversion</var></package>,
4883 where <file><var>soversion</var></file> is the version number
4884 in the soname of the shared library<footnote>
4885 The soname is the shared object name: it's the thing
4886 that has to match exactly between building an executable
4887 and running it for the dynamic linker to be able run the
4888 program. For example, if the soname of the library is
4889 <file>libfoo.so.6</file>, the library package would be
4890 called <file>libfoo6</file>.
4892 Alternatively, if it would be confusing to directly append
4893 <var>soversion</var> to <var>libraryname</var> (e.g. because
4894 <var>libraryname</var> itself ends in a number), you may use
4895 <package><var>libraryname</var>-<var>soversion</var></package> and
4896 <package><var>libraryname</var>-<var>soversion</var>-dev</package>
4901 If you have several shared libraries built from the same
4902 source tree you may lump them all together into a single
4903 shared library package, provided that you change all of
4904 their sonames at once (so that you don't get filename
4905 clashes if you try to install different versions of the
4906 combined shared libraries package).
4910 The package should install the shared libraries under
4911 their normal names. For example, the <package>libgdbm3</package>
4912 package should install <file>libgdbm.so.3.0.0</file> as
4913 <file>/usr/lib/libgdbm.so.3.0.0</file>. The files should not be
4914 renamed or re-linked by any <prgn>prerm</prgn> or
4915 <prgn>postrm</prgn> scripts; <prgn>dpkg</prgn> will take care
4916 of renaming things safely without affecting running programs,
4917 and attempts to interfere with this are likely to lead to
4922 Shared libraries should not be installed executable, since
4923 the dynamic linker does not require this and trying to
4924 execute a shared library usually results in a core dump.
4928 The run-time library package should include the symbolic link that
4929 <prgn>ldconfig</prgn> would create for the shared libraries.
4930 For example, the <package>libgdbm3</package> package should include
4931 a symbolic link from <file>/usr/lib/libgdbm.so.3</file> to
4932 <file>libgdbm.so.3.0.0</file>. This is needed so that the dynamic
4933 linker (for example <prgn>ld.so</prgn> or
4934 <prgn>ld-linux.so.*</prgn>) can find the library between the
4935 time that <prgn>dpkg</prgn> installs it and the time that
4936 <prgn>ldconfig</prgn> is run in the <prgn>postinst</prgn>
4938 The package management system requires the library to be
4939 placed before the symbolic link pointing to it in the
4940 <file>.deb</file> file. This is so that when
4941 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> comes to install the symlink
4942 (overwriting the previous symlink pointing at an older
4943 version of the library), the new shared library is already
4944 in place. In the past, this was achieved by creating the
4945 library in the temporary packaging directory before
4946 creating the symlink. Unfortunately, this was not always
4947 effective, since the building of the tar file in the
4948 <file>.deb</file> depended on the behavior of the underlying
4949 file system. Some file systems (such as reiserfs) reorder
4950 the files so that the order of creation is forgotten.
4951 Since version 1.7.0, <prgn>dpkg</prgn>
4952 reorders the files itself as necessary when building a
4953 package. Thus it is no longer important to concern
4954 oneself with the order of file creation.
4958 <sect1 id="ldconfig">
4959 <heading><tt>ldconfig</tt></heading>
4962 Any package installing shared libraries in one of the default
4963 library directories of the dynamic linker (which are currently
4964 <file>/usr/lib</file> and <file>/lib</file>) or a directory that is
4965 listed in <file>/etc/ld.so.conf</file><footnote>
4967 <list compact="compact">
4968 <item>/usr/local/lib</item>
4969 <item>/usr/lib/libc5-compat</item>
4970 <item>/lib/libc5-compat</item>
4973 must use <prgn>ldconfig</prgn> to update the shared library
4978 The package maintainer scripts must only call
4979 <prgn>ldconfig</prgn> under these circumstances:
4980 <list compact="compact">
4981 <item>When the <prgn>postinst</prgn> script is run with a
4982 first argument of <tt>configure</tt>, the script must call
4983 <prgn>ldconfig</prgn>, and may optionally invoke
4984 <prgn>ldconfig</prgn> at other times.
4986 <item>When the <prgn>postrm</prgn> script is run with a
4987 first argument of <tt>remove</tt>, the script should call
4988 <prgn>ldconfig</prgn>.
4993 During install or upgrade, the preinst is called before
4994 the new files are installed, so calling "ldconfig" is
4995 pointless. The preinst of an existing package can also be
4996 called if an upgrade fails. However, this happens during
4997 the critical time when a shared libs may exist on-disk
4998 under a temporary name. Thus, it is dangerous and
4999 forbidden by current policy to call "ldconfig" at this
5004 When a package is installed or upgraded, "postinst
5005 configure" runs after the new files are safely on-disk.
5006 Since it is perfectly safe to invoke ldconfig
5007 unconditionally in a postinst, it is OK for a package to
5008 simply put ldconfig in its postinst without checking the
5009 argument. The postinst can also be called to recover from
5010 a failed upgrade. This happens before any new files are
5011 unpacked, so there is no reason to call "ldconfig" at this
5016 For a package that is being removed, prerm is
5017 called with all the files intact, so calling ldconfig is
5018 useless. The other calls to "prerm" happen in the case of
5019 upgrade at a time when all the files of the old package
5020 are on-disk, so again calling "ldconfig" is pointless.
5024 postrm, on the other hand, is called with the "remove"
5025 argument just after the files are removed, so this is
5026 the proper time to call "ldconfig" to notify the system
5027 of the fact that the shared libraries from the package
5028 are removed. The postrm can be called at several other
5029 times. At the time of "postrm purge", "postrm
5030 abort-install", or "postrm abort-upgrade", calling
5031 "ldconfig" is useless because the shared lib files are
5032 not on-disk. However, when "postrm" is invoked with
5033 arguments "upgrade", "failed-upgrade", or "disappear", a
5034 shared lib may exist on-disk under a temporary filename.
5042 <sect id="sharedlibs-support-files">
5043 <heading>Shared library support files</heading>
5046 If your package contains files whose names do not change with
5047 each change in the library shared object version, you must not
5048 put them in the shared library package. Otherwise, several
5049 versions of the shared library cannot be installed at the same
5050 time without filename clashes, making upgrades and transitions
5051 unnecessarily difficult.
5055 It is recommended that supporting files and run-time support
5056 programs that do not need to be invoked manually by users, but
5057 are nevertheless required for the package to function, be placed
5058 (if they are binary) in a subdirectory of <file>/usr/lib</file>,
5059 preferably under <file>/usr/lib/</file><var>package-name</var>.
5060 If the program or file is architecture independent, the
5061 recommendation is for it to be placed in a subdirectory of
5062 <file>/usr/share</file> instead, preferably under
5063 <file>/usr/share/</file><var>package-name</var>. Following the
5064 <var>package-name</var> naming convention ensures that the file
5065 names change when the shared object version changes.
5069 Run-time support programs that use the shared library but are
5070 not required for the library to function or files used by the
5071 shared library that can be used by any version of the shared
5072 library package should instead be put in a separate package.
5073 This package might typically be named
5074 <package><var>libraryname</var>-tools</package>; note the
5075 absence of the <var>soversion</var> in the package name.
5079 Files and support programs only useful when compiling software
5080 against the library should be included in the development
5081 package for the library.<footnote>
5082 For example, a <file><var>package-name</var>-config</file>
5083 script or <package>pkg-config</package> configuration files.
5088 <sect id="sharedlibs-static">
5089 <heading>Static libraries</heading>
5092 The static library (<file><var>libraryname.a</var></file>)
5093 is usually provided in addition to the shared version.
5094 It is placed into the development package (see below).
5098 In some cases, it is acceptable for a library to be
5099 available in static form only; these cases include:
5101 <item>libraries for languages whose shared library support
5102 is immature or unstable</item>
5103 <item>libraries whose interfaces are in flux or under
5104 development (commonly the case when the library's
5105 major version number is zero, or where the ABI breaks
5106 across patchlevels)</item>
5107 <item>libraries which are explicitly intended to be
5108 available only in static form by their upstream
5113 <sect id="sharedlibs-dev">
5114 <heading>Development files</heading>
5117 The development files associated to a shared library need to be
5118 placed in a package called
5119 <package><var>libraryname</var><var>soversion</var>-dev</package>,
5120 or if you prefer only to support one development version at a
5121 time, <package><var>libraryname</var>-dev</package>.
5125 In case several development versions of a library exist, you may
5126 need to use <prgn>dpkg</prgn>'s Conflicts mechanism (see
5127 <ref id="conflicts">) to ensure that the user only installs one
5128 development version at a time (as different development versions are
5129 likely to have the same header files in them, which would cause a
5130 filename clash if both were installed).
5134 The development package should contain a symlink for the associated
5135 shared library without a version number. For example, the
5136 <package>libgdbm-dev</package> package should include a symlink
5137 from <file>/usr/lib/libgdbm.so</file> to
5138 <file>libgdbm.so.3.0.0</file>. This symlink is needed by the linker
5139 (<prgn>ld</prgn>) when compiling packages, as it will only look for
5140 <file>libgdbm.so</file> when compiling dynamically.
5144 <sect id="sharedlibs-intradeps">
5145 <heading>Dependencies between the packages of the same library</heading>
5148 Typically the development version should have an exact
5149 version dependency on the runtime library, to make sure that
5150 compilation and linking happens correctly. The
5151 <tt>${binary:Version}</tt> substitution variable can be
5152 useful for this purpose.
5154 Previously, <tt>${Source-Version}</tt> was used, but its name
5155 was confusing and it has been deprecated since dpkg 1.13.19.
5160 <sect id="sharedlibs-shlibdeps">
5161 <heading>Dependencies between the library and other packages -
5162 the <tt>shlibs</tt> system</heading>
5165 If a package contains a binary or library which links to a
5166 shared library, we must ensure that when the package is
5167 installed on the system, all of the libraries needed are
5168 also installed. This requirement led to the creation of the
5169 <tt>shlibs</tt> system, which is very simple in its design:
5170 any package which <em>provides</em> a shared library also
5171 provides information on the package dependencies required to
5172 ensure the presence of this library, and any package which
5173 <em>uses</em> a shared library uses this information to
5174 determine the dependencies it requires. The files which
5175 contain the mapping from shared libraries to the necessary
5176 dependency information are called <file>shlibs</file> files.
5180 Thus, when a package is built which contains any shared
5181 libraries, it must provide a <file>shlibs</file> file for other
5182 packages to use, and when a package is built which contains
5183 any shared libraries or compiled binaries, it must run
5184 <qref id="pkg-dpkg-shlibdeps"><prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn></qref>
5185 on these to determine the libraries used and hence the
5186 dependencies needed by this package.<footnote>
5188 In the past, the shared libraries linked to were
5189 determined by calling <prgn>ldd</prgn>, but now
5190 <prgn>objdump</prgn> is used to do this. The only
5191 change this makes to package building is that
5192 <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> must also be run on shared
5193 libraries, whereas in the past this was unnecessary.
5194 The rest of this footnote explains the advantage that
5199 We say that a binary <tt>foo</tt> <em>directly</em> uses
5200 a library <tt>libbar</tt> if it is explicitly linked
5201 with that library (that is, it uses the flag
5202 <tt>-lbar</tt> during the linking stage). Other
5203 libraries that are needed by <tt>libbar</tt> are linked
5204 <em>indirectly</em> to <tt>foo</tt>, and the dynamic
5205 linker will load them automatically when it loads
5206 <tt>libbar</tt>. A package should depend on
5207 the libraries it directly uses, and the dependencies for
5208 those libraries should automatically pull in the other
5213 Unfortunately, the <prgn>ldd</prgn> program shows both
5214 the directly and indirectly used libraries, meaning that
5215 the dependencies determined included both direct and
5216 indirect dependencies. The use of <prgn>objdump</prgn>
5217 avoids this problem by determining only the directly
5222 A good example of where this helps is the following. We
5223 could update <tt>libimlib</tt> with a new version that
5224 supports a new graphics format called dgf (but retaining
5225 the same major version number). If we used the old
5226 <prgn>ldd</prgn> method, every package that uses
5227 <tt>libimlib</tt> would need to be recompiled so it
5228 would also depend on <tt>libdgf</tt> or it wouldn't run
5229 due to missing symbols. However with the new system,
5230 packages using <tt>libimlib</tt> can rely on
5231 <tt>libimlib</tt> itself having the dependency on
5232 <tt>libdgf</tt> and so they would not need rebuilding.
5238 In the following sections, we will first describe where the
5239 various <tt>shlibs</tt> files are to be found, then how to
5240 use <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn>, and finally the <tt>shlibs</tt>
5241 file format and how to create them if your package contains a
5246 <heading>The <tt>shlibs</tt> files present on the system</heading>
5249 There are several places where <tt>shlibs</tt> files are
5250 found. The following list gives them in the order in which
5252 <qref id="pkg-dpkg-shlibdeps"><prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn></qref>.
5253 (The first one which gives the required information is used.)
5259 <p><file>debian/shlibs.local</file></p>
5262 This lists overrides for this package. Its use is
5263 described below (see <ref id="shlibslocal">).
5268 <p><file>/etc/dpkg/shlibs.override</file></p>
5271 This lists global overrides. This list is normally
5272 empty. It is maintained by the local system
5278 <p><file>DEBIAN/shlibs</file> files in the "build directory"</p>
5281 When packages are being built, any
5282 <file>debian/shlibs</file> files are copied into the
5283 control file area of the temporary build directory and
5284 given the name <file>shlibs</file>. These files give
5285 details of any shared libraries included in the
5287 An example may help here. Let us say that the
5288 source package <tt>foo</tt> generates two binary
5289 packages, <tt>libfoo2</tt> and
5290 <tt>foo-runtime</tt>. When building the binary
5291 packages, the two packages are created in the
5292 directories <file>debian/libfoo2</file> and
5293 <file>debian/foo-runtime</file> respectively.
5294 (<file>debian/tmp</file> could be used instead of one
5295 of these.) Since <tt>libfoo2</tt> provides the
5296 <tt>libfoo</tt> shared library, it will require a
5297 <tt>shlibs</tt> file, which will be installed in
5298 <file>debian/libfoo2/DEBIAN/shlibs</file>, eventually
5300 <file>/var/lib/dpkg/info/libfoo2.shlibs</file>. Then
5301 when <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> is run on the
5303 <file>debian/foo-runtime/usr/bin/foo-prog</file>, it
5305 <file>debian/libfoo2/DEBIAN/shlibs</file> file to
5306 determine whether <tt>foo-prog</tt>'s library
5307 dependencies are satisfied by any of the libraries
5308 provided by <tt>libfoo2</tt>. For this reason,
5309 <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> must only be run once
5310 all of the individual binary packages'
5311 <tt>shlibs</tt> files have been installed into the
5318 <p><file>/var/lib/dpkg/info/*.shlibs</file></p>
5321 These are the <file>shlibs</file> files corresponding to
5322 all of the packages installed on the system, and are
5323 maintained by the relevant package maintainers.
5328 <p><file>/etc/dpkg/shlibs.default</file></p>
5331 This file lists any shared libraries whose packages
5332 have failed to provide correct <file>shlibs</file> files.
5333 It was used when the <file>shlibs</file> setup was first
5334 introduced, but it is now normally empty. It is
5335 maintained by the <tt>dpkg</tt> maintainer.
5343 <heading>How to use <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> and the
5344 <file>shlibs</file> files</heading>
5348 <qref id="pkg-dpkg-shlibdeps"><prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn></qref>
5349 into your <file>debian/rules</file> file. If your package
5350 contains only compiled binaries and libraries (but no scripts),
5351 you can use a command such as:
5352 <example compact="compact">
5353 dpkg-shlibdeps debian/tmp/usr/bin/* debian/tmp/usr/sbin/* \
5354 debian/tmp/usr/lib/*
5356 Otherwise, you will need to explicitly list the compiled
5357 binaries and libraries.<footnote>
5358 If you are using <tt>debhelper</tt>, the
5359 <prgn>dh_shlibdeps</prgn> program will do this work for
5360 you. It will also correctly handle multi-binary
5366 This command puts the dependency information into the
5367 <file>debian/substvars</file> file, which is then used by
5368 <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn>. You will need to place a
5369 <tt>${shlibs:Depends}</tt> variable in the <tt>Depends</tt>
5370 field in the control file for this to work.
5374 If <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> doesn't complain, you're
5375 done. If it does complain you might need to create your own
5376 <file>debian/shlibs.local</file> file, as explained below (see
5377 <ref id="shlibslocal">).
5381 If you have multiple binary packages, you will need to call
5382 <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> on each one which contains
5383 compiled libraries or binaries. In such a case, you will
5384 need to use the <tt>-T</tt> option to the <tt>dpkg</tt>
5385 utilities to specify a different <file>substvars</file> file.
5389 If you are creating a udeb for use in the Debian Installer,
5390 you will need to specify that <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn>
5391 should use the dependency line of type <tt>udeb</tt> by
5392 adding the <tt>-tudeb</tt> option<footnote>
5393 <prgn>dh_shlibdeps</prgn> from the <tt>debhelper</tt> suite
5394 will automatically add this option if it knows it is
5396 </footnote>. If there is no dependency line of type <tt>udeb</tt>
5397 in the <file>shlibs</file> file, <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> will
5398 fall back to the regular dependency line.
5402 For more details on dpkg-shlibdeps, please see
5403 <ref id="pkg-dpkg-shlibdeps"> and
5404 <manref name="dpkg-shlibdeps" section="1">.
5409 <heading>The <file>shlibs</file> File Format</heading>
5412 Each <file>shlibs</file> file has the same format. Lines
5413 beginning with <tt>#</tt> are considered to be comments and
5414 are ignored. Each line is of the form:
5415 <example compact="compact">
5416 [<var>type</var>: ]<var>library-name</var> <var>soname-version</var> <var>dependencies ...</var>
5421 We will explain this by reference to the example of the
5422 <tt>zlib1g</tt> package, which (at the time of writing)
5423 installs the shared library <file>/usr/lib/libz.so.1.1.3</file>.
5427 <var>type</var> is an optional element that indicates the type
5428 of package for which the line is valid. The only type currently
5429 in use is <tt>udeb</tt>. The colon and space after the type are
5434 <var>library-name</var> is the name of the shared library,
5435 in this case <tt>libz</tt>. (This must match the name part
5436 of the soname, see below.)
5440 <var>soname-version</var> is the version part of the soname of
5441 the library. The soname is the thing that must exactly match
5442 for the library to be recognized by the dynamic linker, and is
5444 <tt><var>name</var>.so.<var>major-version</var></tt>, in our
5445 example, <tt>libz.so.1</tt>.<footnote>
5446 This can be determined using the command
5447 <example compact="compact">
5448 objdump -p /usr/lib/libz.so.1.1.3 | grep SONAME
5451 The version part is the part which comes after
5452 <tt>.so.</tt>, so in our case, it is <tt>1</tt>.
5456 <var>dependencies</var> has the same syntax as a dependency
5457 field in a binary package control file. It should give
5458 details of which packages are required to satisfy a binary
5459 built against the version of the library contained in the
5460 package. See <ref id="depsyntax"> for details.
5464 In our example, if the first version of the <tt>zlib1g</tt>
5465 package which contained a minor number of at least
5466 <tt>1.3</tt> was <var>1:1.1.3-1</var>, then the
5467 <tt>shlibs</tt> entry for this library could say:
5468 <example compact="compact">
5469 libz 1 zlib1g (>= 1:1.1.3)
5471 The version-specific dependency is to avoid warnings from
5472 the dynamic linker about using older shared libraries with
5477 As zlib1g also provides a udeb containing the shared library,
5478 there would also be a second line:
5479 <example compact="compact">
5480 udeb: libz 1 zlib1g-udeb (>= 1:1.1.3)
5486 <heading>Providing a <file>shlibs</file> file</heading>
5489 If your package provides a shared library, you need to create
5490 a <file>shlibs</file> file following the format described above.
5491 It is usual to call this file <file>debian/shlibs</file> (but if
5492 you have multiple binary packages, you might want to call it
5493 <file>debian/shlibs.<var>package</var></file> instead). Then
5494 let <file>debian/rules</file> install it in the control area:
5495 <example compact="compact">
5496 install -m644 debian/shlibs debian/tmp/DEBIAN
5498 or, in the case of a multi-binary package:
5499 <example compact="compact">
5500 install -m644 debian/shlibs.<var>package</var> debian/<var>package</var>/DEBIAN/shlibs
5502 An alternative way of doing this is to create the
5503 <file>shlibs</file> file in the control area directly from
5504 <file>debian/rules</file> without using a <file>debian/shlibs</file>
5505 file at all,<footnote>
5506 This is what <prgn>dh_makeshlibs</prgn> in the
5507 <tt>debhelper</tt> suite does. If your package also has a udeb
5508 that provides a shared library, <prgn>dh_makeshlibs</prgn> can
5509 automatically generate the <tt>udeb:</tt> lines if you specify
5510 the name of the udeb with the <tt>--add-udeb</tt> option.
5512 since the <file>debian/shlibs</file> file itself is ignored by
5513 <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn>.
5517 As <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> reads the
5518 <file>DEBIAN/shlibs</file> files in all of the binary packages
5519 being built from this source package, all of the
5520 <file>DEBIAN/shlibs</file> files should be installed before
5521 <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> is called on any of the binary
5526 <sect1 id="shlibslocal">
5527 <heading>Writing the <file>debian/shlibs.local</file> file</heading>
5530 This file is intended only as a <em>temporary</em> fix if
5531 your binaries or libraries depend on a library whose package
5532 does not yet provide a correct <file>shlibs</file> file.
5536 We will assume that you are trying to package a binary
5537 <tt>foo</tt>. When you try running
5538 <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> you get the following error
5539 message (<tt>-O</tt> displays the dependency information on
5540 <tt>stdout</tt> instead of writing it to
5541 <tt>debian/substvars</tt>, and the lines have been wrapped
5542 for ease of reading):
5543 <example compact="compact">
5544 $ dpkg-shlibdeps -O debian/tmp/usr/bin/foo
5545 dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: unable to find dependency
5546 information for shared library libbar (soname 1,
5547 path /usr/lib/libbar.so.1, dependency field Depends)
5548 shlibs:Depends=libc6 (>= 2.2.2-2)
5550 You can then run <prgn>ldd</prgn> on the binary to find the
5551 full location of the library concerned:
5552 <example compact="compact">
5554 libbar.so.1 => /usr/lib/libbar.so.1 (0x4001e000)
5555 libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x40032000)
5556 /lib/ld-linux.so.2 => /lib/ld-linux.so.2 (0x40000000)
5558 So the <prgn>foo</prgn> binary depends on the
5559 <prgn>libbar</prgn> shared library, but no package seems to
5560 provide a <file>*.shlibs</file> file handling
5561 <file>libbar.so.1</file> in <file>/var/lib/dpkg/info/</file>. Let's
5562 determine the package responsible:
5563 <example compact="compact">
5564 $ dpkg -S /usr/lib/libbar.so.1
5565 bar1: /usr/lib/libbar.so.1
5566 $ dpkg -s bar1 | grep Version
5569 This tells us that the <tt>bar1</tt> package, version 1.0-1,
5570 is the one we are using. Now we can file a bug against the
5571 <tt>bar1</tt> package and create our own
5572 <file>debian/shlibs.local</file> to locally fix the problem.
5573 Including the following line into your
5574 <file>debian/shlibs.local</file> file:
5575 <example compact="compact">
5576 libbar 1 bar1 (>= 1.0-1)
5578 should allow the package build to work.
5582 As soon as the maintainer of <tt>bar1</tt> provides a
5583 correct <file>shlibs</file> file, you should remove this line
5584 from your <file>debian/shlibs.local</file> file. (You should
5585 probably also then have a versioned <tt>Build-Depends</tt>
5586 on <tt>bar1</tt> to help ensure that others do not have the
5587 same problem building your package.)
5596 <chapt id="opersys"><heading>The Operating System</heading>
5599 <heading>File system hierarchy</heading>
5603 <heading>File System Structure</heading>
5606 The location of all installed files and directories must
5607 comply with the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS),
5608 version 2.3, with the exceptions noted below, and except
5609 where doing so would violate other terms of Debian
5610 Policy. The following exceptions to the FHS apply:
5615 The optional rules related to user specific
5616 configuration files for applications are stored in
5617 the user's home directory are relaxed. It is
5618 recommended that such files start with the
5619 '<tt>.</tt>' character (a "dot file"), and if an
5620 application needs to create more than one dot file
5621 then the preferred placement is in a subdirectory
5622 with a name starting with a '.' character, (a "dot
5623 directory"). In this case it is recommended the
5624 configuration files not start with the '.'
5630 The requirement for amd64 to use <file>/lib64</file>
5631 for 64 bit binaries is removed.
5636 The requirement for object files, internal binaries, and
5637 libraries, including <file>libc.so.*</file>, to be located
5638 directly under <file>/lib{,32}</file> and
5639 <file>/usr/lib{,32}</file> is amended, permitting files
5640 to instead be installed to
5641 <file>/lib/<var>triplet</var></file> and
5642 <file>/usr/lib/<var>triplet</var></file>, where
5643 <tt><var>triplet</var></tt> is the value returned by
5644 <tt>dpkg-architecture -qDEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE</tt> for the
5645 architecture of the package. Packages may <em>not</em>
5646 install files to any <var>triplet</var> path other
5647 than the one matching the architecture of that package;
5648 for instance, an <tt>Architecture: amd64</tt> package
5649 containing 32-bit x86 libraries may not install these
5650 libraries to <file>/usr/lib/i486-linux-gnu</file>.
5652 This is necessary in order to reserve the directories for
5653 use in cross-installation of library packages from other
5654 architectures, as part of the planned deployment of
5659 Applications may also use a single subdirectory under
5660 <file>/usr/lib/<var>triplet</var></file>.
5663 The execution time linker/loader, ld*, must still be made
5664 available in the existing location under /lib or /lib64
5665 since this is part of the ELF ABI for the architecture.
5670 The requirement that
5671 <file>/usr/local/share/man</file> be "synonymous"
5672 with <file>/usr/local/man</file> is relaxed to a
5677 The requirement that windowmanagers with a single
5678 configuration file call it <file>system.*wmrc</file>
5679 is removed, as is the restriction that the window
5680 manager subdirectory be named identically to the
5681 window manager name itself.
5686 The requirement that boot manager configuration
5687 files live in <file>/etc</file>, or at least are
5688 symlinked there, is relaxed to a recommendation.
5693 The following directories in the root filesystem are
5694 additionally allowed: <file>/sys</file> and
5695 <file>/selinux</file>. <footnote>These directories
5696 are used as mount points to mount virtual filesystems
5697 to get access to kernel information.</footnote>
5704 The version of this document referred here can be
5705 found in the <tt>debian-policy</tt> package or on <url
5706 id="http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/fhs/"
5707 name="FHS (Debian copy)"> alongside this manual (or, if
5708 you have the <package>debian-policy</package> installed,
5710 id="file:///usr/share/doc/debian-policy/fhs/" name="FHS
5711 (local copy)">). The
5712 latest version, which may be a more recent version, may
5714 <url id="http://www.pathname.com/fhs/" name="FHS (upstream)">.
5715 Specific questions about following the standard may be
5716 asked on the <tt>debian-devel</tt> mailing list, or
5717 referred to the FHS mailing list (see the
5718 <url id="http://www.pathname.com/fhs/" name="FHS web site"> for
5724 <heading>Site-specific programs</heading>
5727 As mandated by the FHS, packages must not place any
5728 files in <file>/usr/local</file>, either by putting them in
5729 the file system archive to be unpacked by <prgn>dpkg</prgn>
5730 or by manipulating them in their maintainer scripts.
5734 However, the package may create empty directories below
5735 <file>/usr/local</file> so that the system administrator knows
5736 where to place site-specific files. These are not
5737 directories <em>in</em> <file>/usr/local</file>, but are
5738 children of directories in <file>/usr/local</file>. These
5739 directories (<file>/usr/local/*/dir/</file>)
5740 should be removed on package removal if they are
5745 Note that this applies only to
5746 directories <em>below</em> <file>/usr/local</file>,
5747 not <em>in</em> <file>/usr/local</file>. Packages must
5748 not create sub-directories in the
5749 directory <file>/usr/local</file> itself, except those
5750 listed in FHS, section 4.5. However, you may create
5751 directories below them as you wish. You must not remove
5752 any of the directories listed in 4.5, even if you created
5757 Since <file>/usr/local</file> can be mounted read-only from a
5758 remote server, these directories must be created and
5759 removed by the <prgn>postinst</prgn> and <prgn>prerm</prgn>
5760 maintainer scripts and not be included in the
5761 <file>.deb</file> archive. These scripts must not fail if
5762 either of these operations fail.
5766 For example, the <tt>emacsen-common</tt> package could
5767 contain something like
5768 <example compact="compact">
5769 if [ ! -e /usr/local/share/emacs ]
5771 if mkdir /usr/local/share/emacs 2>/dev/null
5773 chown root:staff /usr/local/share/emacs
5774 chmod 2775 /usr/local/share/emacs
5778 in its <prgn>postinst</prgn> script, and
5779 <example compact="compact">
5780 rmdir /usr/local/share/emacs/site-lisp 2>/dev/null || true
5781 rmdir /usr/local/share/emacs 2>/dev/null || true
5783 in the <prgn>prerm</prgn> script. (Note that this form is
5784 used to ensure that if the script is interrupted, the
5785 directory <file>/usr/local/share/emacs</file> will still be
5790 If you do create a directory in <file>/usr/local</file> for
5791 local additions to a package, you should ensure that
5792 settings in <file>/usr/local</file> take precedence over the
5793 equivalents in <file>/usr</file>.
5797 However, because <file>/usr/local</file> and its contents are
5798 for exclusive use of the local administrator, a package
5799 must not rely on the presence or absence of files or
5800 directories in <file>/usr/local</file> for normal operation.
5804 The <file>/usr/local</file> directory itself and all the
5805 subdirectories created by the package should (by default) have
5806 permissions 2775 (group-writable and set-group-id) and be
5807 owned by <tt>root:staff</tt>.
5812 <heading>The system-wide mail directory</heading>
5814 The system-wide mail directory
5815 is <file>/var/mail</file>. This directory is part of the
5816 base system and should not be owned by any particular mail
5817 agents. The use of the old
5818 location <file>/var/spool/mail</file> is deprecated, even
5819 though the spool may still be physically located there.
5825 <heading>Users and groups</heading>
5828 <heading>Introduction</heading>
5830 The Debian system can be configured to use either plain or
5835 Some user ids (UIDs) and group ids (GIDs) are reserved
5836 globally for use by certain packages. Because some
5837 packages need to include files which are owned by these
5838 users or groups, or need the ids compiled into binaries,
5839 these ids must be used on any Debian system only for the
5840 purpose for which they are allocated. This is a serious
5841 restriction, and we should avoid getting in the way of
5842 local administration policies. In particular, many sites
5843 allocate users and/or local system groups starting at 100.
5847 Apart from this we should have dynamically allocated ids,
5848 which should by default be arranged in some sensible
5849 order, but the behavior should be configurable.
5853 Packages other than <tt>base-passwd</tt> must not modify
5854 <file>/etc/passwd</file>, <file>/etc/shadow</file>,
5855 <file>/etc/group</file> or <file>/etc/gshadow</file>.
5860 <heading>UID and GID classes</heading>
5862 The UID and GID numbers are divided into classes as
5868 Globally allocated by the Debian project, the same
5869 on every Debian system. These ids will appear in
5870 the <file>passwd</file> and <file>group</file> files of all
5871 Debian systems, new ids in this range being added
5872 automatically as the <tt>base-passwd</tt> package is
5877 Packages which need a single statically allocated
5878 uid or gid should use one of these; their
5879 maintainers should ask the <tt>base-passwd</tt>
5887 Dynamically allocated system users and groups.
5888 Packages which need a user or group, but can have
5889 this user or group allocated dynamically and
5890 differently on each system, should use <tt>adduser
5891 --system</tt> to create the group and/or user.
5892 <prgn>adduser</prgn> will check for the existence of
5893 the user or group, and if necessary choose an unused
5894 id based on the ranges specified in
5895 <file>adduser.conf</file>.
5899 <tag>1000-59999:</tag>
5902 Dynamically allocated user accounts. By default
5903 <prgn>adduser</prgn> will choose UIDs and GIDs for
5904 user accounts in this range, though
5905 <file>adduser.conf</file> may be used to modify this
5910 <tag>60000-64999:</tag>
5913 Globally allocated by the Debian project, but only
5914 created on demand. The ids are allocated centrally
5915 and statically, but the actual accounts are only
5916 created on users' systems on demand.
5920 These ids are for packages which are obscure or
5921 which require many statically-allocated ids. These
5922 packages should check for and create the accounts in
5923 <file>/etc/passwd</file> or <file>/etc/group</file> (using
5924 <prgn>adduser</prgn> if it has this facility) if
5925 necessary. Packages which are likely to require
5926 further allocations should have a "hole" left after
5927 them in the allocation, to give them room to
5932 <tag>65000-65533:</tag>
5940 User <tt>nobody</tt>. The corresponding gid refers
5941 to the group <tt>nogroup</tt>.
5948 <tt>(uid_t)(-1) == (gid_t)(-1)</tt> <em>must
5949 not</em> be used, because it is the error return
5958 <sect id="sysvinit">
5959 <heading>System run levels and <file>init.d</file> scripts</heading>
5961 <sect1 id="/etc/init.d">
5962 <heading>Introduction</heading>
5965 The <file>/etc/init.d</file> directory contains the scripts
5966 executed by <prgn>init</prgn> at boot time and when the
5967 init state (or "runlevel") is changed (see <manref
5968 name="init" section="8">).
5972 There are at least two different, yet functionally
5973 equivalent, ways of handling these scripts. For the sake
5974 of simplicity, this document describes only the symbolic
5975 link method. However, it must not be assumed by maintainer
5976 scripts that this method is being used, and any automated
5977 manipulation of the various runlevel behaviors by
5978 maintainer scripts must be performed using
5979 <prgn>update-rc.d</prgn> as described below and not by
5980 manually installing or removing symlinks. For information
5981 on the implementation details of the other method,
5982 implemented in the <tt>file-rc</tt> package, please refer
5983 to the documentation of that package.
5987 These scripts are referenced by symbolic links in the
5988 <file>/etc/rc<var>n</var>.d</file> directories. When changing
5989 runlevels, <prgn>init</prgn> looks in the directory
5990 <file>/etc/rc<var>n</var>.d</file> for the scripts it should
5991 execute, where <tt><var>n</var></tt> is the runlevel that
5992 is being changed to, or <tt>S</tt> for the boot-up
5997 The names of the links all have the form
5998 <file>S<var>mm</var><var>script</var></file> or
5999 <file>K<var>mm</var><var>script</var></file> where
6000 <var>mm</var> is a two-digit number and <var>script</var>
6001 is the name of the script (this should be the same as the
6002 name of the actual script in <file>/etc/init.d</file>).
6006 When <prgn>init</prgn> changes runlevel first the targets
6007 of the links whose names start with a <tt>K</tt> are
6008 executed, each with the single argument <tt>stop</tt>,
6009 followed by the scripts prefixed with an <tt>S</tt>, each
6010 with the single argument <tt>start</tt>. (The links are
6011 those in the <file>/etc/rc<var>n</var>.d</file> directory
6012 corresponding to the new runlevel.) The <tt>K</tt> links
6013 are responsible for killing services and the <tt>S</tt>
6014 link for starting services upon entering the runlevel.
6018 For example, if we are changing from runlevel 2 to
6019 runlevel 3, init will first execute all of the <tt>K</tt>
6020 prefixed scripts it finds in <file>/etc/rc3.d</file>, and then
6021 all of the <tt>S</tt> prefixed scripts in that directory.
6022 The links starting with <tt>K</tt> will cause the
6023 referred-to file to be executed with an argument of
6024 <tt>stop</tt>, and the <tt>S</tt> links with an argument
6029 The two-digit number <var>mm</var> is used to determine
6030 the order in which to run the scripts: low-numbered links
6031 have their scripts run first. For example, the
6032 <tt>K20</tt> scripts will be executed before the
6033 <tt>K30</tt> scripts. This is used when a certain service
6034 must be started before another. For example, the name
6035 server <prgn>bind</prgn> might need to be started before
6036 the news server <prgn>inn</prgn> so that <prgn>inn</prgn>
6037 can set up its access lists. In this case, the script
6038 that starts <prgn>bind</prgn> would have a lower number
6039 than the script that starts <prgn>inn</prgn> so that it
6041 <example compact="compact">
6048 The two runlevels 0 (halt) and 6 (reboot) are slightly
6049 different. In these runlevels, the links with an
6050 <tt>S</tt> prefix are still called after those with a
6051 <tt>K</tt> prefix, but they too are called with the single
6052 argument <tt>stop</tt>.
6056 <sect1 id="writing-init">
6057 <heading>Writing the scripts</heading>
6060 Packages that include daemons for system services should
6061 place scripts in <file>/etc/init.d</file> to start or stop
6062 services at boot time or during a change of runlevel.
6063 These scripts should be named
6064 <file>/etc/init.d/<var>package</var></file>, and they should
6065 accept one argument, saying what to do:
6068 <tag><tt>start</tt></tag>
6069 <item>start the service,</item>
6071 <tag><tt>stop</tt></tag>
6072 <item>stop the service,</item>
6074 <tag><tt>restart</tt></tag>
6075 <item>stop and restart the service if it's already running,
6076 otherwise start the service</item>
6078 <tag><tt>reload</tt></tag>
6079 <item><p>cause the configuration of the service to be
6080 reloaded without actually stopping and restarting
6083 <tag><tt>force-reload</tt></tag>
6084 <item>cause the configuration to be reloaded if the
6085 service supports this, otherwise restart the
6089 The <tt>start</tt>, <tt>stop</tt>, <tt>restart</tt>, and
6090 <tt>force-reload</tt> options should be supported by all
6091 scripts in <file>/etc/init.d</file>, the <tt>reload</tt>
6096 The <file>init.d</file> scripts must ensure that they will
6097 behave sensibly (i.e., returning success and not starting
6098 multiple copies of a service) if invoked with <tt>start</tt>
6099 when the service is already running, or with <tt>stop</tt>
6100 when it isn't, and that they don't kill unfortunately-named
6101 user processes. The best way to achieve this is usually to
6102 use <prgn>start-stop-daemon</prgn> with the <tt>--oknodo</tt>
6107 Be careful of using <tt>set -e</tt> in <file>init.d</file>
6108 scripts. Writing correct <file>init.d</file> scripts requires
6109 accepting various error exit statuses when daemons are already
6110 running or already stopped without aborting
6111 the <file>init.d</file> script, and common <file>init.d</file>
6112 function libraries are not safe to call with <tt>set -e</tt>
6114 <tt>/lib/lsb/init-functions</tt>, which assists in writing
6115 LSB-compliant init scripts, may fail if <tt>set -e</tt> is
6116 in effect and echoing status messages to the console fails,
6118 </footnote>. For <tt>init.d</tt> scripts, it's often easier
6119 to not use <tt>set -e</tt> and instead check the result of
6120 each command separately.
6124 If a service reloads its configuration automatically (as
6125 in the case of <prgn>cron</prgn>, for example), the
6126 <tt>reload</tt> option of the <file>init.d</file> script
6127 should behave as if the configuration has been reloaded
6132 The <file>/etc/init.d</file> scripts must be treated as
6133 configuration files, either (if they are present in the
6134 package, that is, in the .deb file) by marking them as
6135 <tt>conffile</tt>s, or, (if they do not exist in the .deb)
6136 by managing them correctly in the maintainer scripts (see
6137 <ref id="config-files">). This is important since we want
6138 to give the local system administrator the chance to adapt
6139 the scripts to the local system, e.g., to disable a
6140 service without de-installing the package, or to specify
6141 some special command line options when starting a service,
6142 while making sure their changes aren't lost during the next
6147 These scripts should not fail obscurely when the
6148 configuration files remain but the package has been
6149 removed, as configuration files remain on the system after
6150 the package has been removed. Only when <prgn>dpkg</prgn>
6151 is executed with the <tt>--purge</tt> option will
6152 configuration files be removed. In particular, as the
6153 <file>/etc/init.d/<var>package</var></file> script itself is
6154 usually a <tt>conffile</tt>, it will remain on the system
6155 if the package is removed but not purged. Therefore, you
6156 should include a <tt>test</tt> statement at the top of the
6158 <example compact="compact">
6159 test -f <var>program-executed-later-in-script</var> || exit 0
6164 Often there are some variables in the <file>init.d</file>
6165 scripts whose values control the behavior of the scripts,
6166 and which a system administrator is likely to want to
6167 change. As the scripts themselves are frequently
6168 <tt>conffile</tt>s, modifying them requires that the
6169 administrator merge in their changes each time the package
6170 is upgraded and the <tt>conffile</tt> changes. To ease
6171 the burden on the system administrator, such configurable
6172 values should not be placed directly in the script.
6173 Instead, they should be placed in a file in
6174 <file>/etc/default</file>, which typically will have the same
6175 base name as the <file>init.d</file> script. This extra file
6176 should be sourced by the script when the script runs. It
6177 must contain only variable settings and comments in SUSv3
6178 <prgn>sh</prgn> format. It may either be a
6179 <tt>conffile</tt> or a configuration file maintained by
6180 the package maintainer scripts. See <ref id="config-files">
6185 To ensure that vital configurable values are always
6186 available, the <file>init.d</file> script should set default
6187 values for each of the shell variables it uses, either
6188 before sourcing the <file>/etc/default/</file> file or
6189 afterwards using something like the <tt>:
6190 ${VAR:=default}</tt> syntax. Also, the <file>init.d</file>
6191 script must behave sensibly and not fail if the
6192 <file>/etc/default</file> file is deleted.
6196 <file>/var/run</file> and <file>/var/lock</file> may be mounted
6197 as temporary filesystems<footnote>
6198 For example, using the <tt>RAMRUN</tt> and <tt>RAMLOCK</tt>
6199 options in <file>/etc/default/rcS</file>.
6200 </footnote>, so the <file>init.d</file> scripts must handle this
6201 correctly. This will typically amount to creating any required
6202 subdirectories dynamically when the <file>init.d</file> script
6203 is run, rather than including them in the package and relying on
6204 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> to create them.
6209 <heading>Interfacing with the initscript system</heading>
6212 Maintainers should use the abstraction layer provided by
6213 the <prgn>update-rc.d</prgn> and <prgn>invoke-rc.d</prgn>
6214 programs to deal with initscripts in their packages'
6215 scripts such as <prgn>postinst</prgn>, <prgn>prerm</prgn>
6216 and <prgn>postrm</prgn>.
6220 Directly managing the /etc/rc?.d links and directly
6221 invoking the <file>/etc/init.d/</file> initscripts should
6222 be done only by packages providing the initscript
6223 subsystem (such as <prgn>sysv-rc</prgn> and
6224 <prgn>file-rc</prgn>).
6228 <heading>Managing the links</heading>
6231 The program <prgn>update-rc.d</prgn> is provided for
6232 package maintainers to arrange for the proper creation and
6233 removal of <file>/etc/rc<var>n</var>.d</file> symbolic links,
6234 or their functional equivalent if another method is being
6235 used. This may be used by maintainers in their packages'
6236 <prgn>postinst</prgn> and <prgn>postrm</prgn> scripts.
6240 You must not include any <file>/etc/rc<var>n</var>.d</file>
6241 symbolic links in the actual archive or manually create or
6242 remove the symbolic links in maintainer scripts; you must
6243 use the <prgn>update-rc.d</prgn> program instead. (The
6244 former will fail if an alternative method of maintaining
6245 runlevel information is being used.) You must not include
6246 the <file>/etc/rc<var>n</var>.d</file> directories themselves
6247 in the archive either. (Only the <tt>sysvinit</tt>
6252 By default <prgn>update-rc.d</prgn> will start services in
6253 each of the multi-user state runlevels (2, 3, 4, and 5)
6254 and stop them in the halt runlevel (0), the single-user
6255 runlevel (1) and the reboot runlevel (6). The system
6256 administrator will have the opportunity to customize
6257 runlevels by simply adding, moving, or removing the
6258 symbolic links in <file>/etc/rc<var>n</var>.d</file> if
6259 symbolic links are being used, or by modifying
6260 <file>/etc/runlevel.conf</file> if the <tt>file-rc</tt> method
6265 To get the default behavior for your package, put in your
6266 <prgn>postinst</prgn> script
6267 <example compact="compact">
6268 update-rc.d <var>package</var> defaults
6270 and in your <prgn>postrm</prgn>
6271 <example compact="compact">
6272 if [ "$1" = purge ]; then
6273 update-rc.d <var>package</var> remove
6275 </example>. Note that if your package changes runlevels
6276 or priority, you may have to remove and recreate the links,
6277 since otherwise the old links may persist. Refer to the
6278 documentation of <prgn>update-rc.d</prgn>.
6282 This will use a default sequence number of 20. If it does
6283 not matter when or in which order the <file>init.d</file>
6284 script is run, use this default. If it does, then you
6285 should talk to the maintainer of the <prgn>sysvinit</prgn>
6286 package or post to <tt>debian-devel</tt>, and they will
6287 help you choose a number.
6291 For more information about using <tt>update-rc.d</tt>,
6292 please consult its man page <manref name="update-rc.d"
6298 <heading>Running initscripts</heading>
6300 The program <prgn>invoke-rc.d</prgn> is provided to make
6301 it easier for package maintainers to properly invoke an
6302 initscript, obeying runlevel and other locally-defined
6303 constraints that might limit a package's right to start,
6304 stop and otherwise manage services. This program may be
6305 used by maintainers in their packages' scripts.
6309 The package maintainer scripts must use
6310 <prgn>invoke-rc.d</prgn> to invoke the
6311 <file>/etc/init.d/*</file> initscripts, instead of
6312 calling them directly.
6316 By default, <prgn>invoke-rc.d</prgn> will pass any
6317 action requests (start, stop, reload, restart...) to the
6318 <file>/etc/init.d</file> script, filtering out requests
6319 to start or restart a service out of its intended
6324 Most packages will simply need to change:
6325 <example compact="compact">/etc/init.d/<package>
6326 <action></example> in their <prgn>postinst</prgn>
6327 and <prgn>prerm</prgn> scripts to:
6328 <example compact="compact">
6329 if which invoke-rc.d >/dev/null 2>&1; then
6330 invoke-rc.d <var>package</var> <action>
6332 /etc/init.d/<var>package</var> <action>
6338 A package should register its initscript services using
6339 <prgn>update-rc.d</prgn> before it tries to invoke them
6340 using <prgn>invoke-rc.d</prgn>. Invocation of
6341 unregistered services may fail.
6345 For more information about using
6346 <prgn>invoke-rc.d</prgn>, please consult its man page
6347 <manref name="invoke-rc.d" section="8">.
6353 <heading>Boot-time initialization</heading>
6356 There used to be another directory, <file>/etc/rc.boot</file>,
6357 which contained scripts which were run once per machine
6358 boot. This has been deprecated in favour of links from
6359 <file>/etc/rcS.d</file> to files in <file>/etc/init.d</file> as
6360 described in <ref id="/etc/init.d">. Packages must not
6361 place files in <file>/etc/rc.boot</file>.
6366 <heading>Example</heading>
6369 An example on which you can base your
6370 <file>/etc/init.d</file> scripts is found in
6371 <file>/etc/init.d/skeleton</file>.
6378 <heading>Console messages from <file>init.d</file> scripts</heading>
6381 This section describes the formats to be used for messages
6382 written to standard output by the <file>/etc/init.d</file>
6383 scripts. The intent is to improve the consistency of
6384 Debian's startup and shutdown look and feel. For this
6385 reason, please look very carefully at the details. We want
6386 the messages to have the same format in terms of wording,
6387 spaces, punctuation and case of letters.
6391 Here is a list of overall rules that should be used for
6392 messages generated by <file>/etc/init.d</file> scripts.
6398 The message should fit in one line (fewer than 80
6399 characters), start with a capital letter and end with
6400 a period (<tt>.</tt>) and line feed (<tt>"\n"</tt>).
6404 If the script is performing some time consuming task in
6405 the background (not merely starting or stopping a
6406 program, for instance), an ellipsis (three dots:
6407 <tt>...</tt>) should be output to the screen, with no
6408 leading or tailing whitespace or line feeds.
6412 The messages should appear as if the computer is telling
6413 the user what it is doing (politely :-), but should not
6414 mention "it" directly. For example, instead of:
6415 <example compact="compact">
6416 I'm starting network daemons: nfsd mountd.
6418 the message should say
6419 <example compact="compact">
6420 Starting network daemons: nfsd mountd.
6427 <tt>init.d</tt> script should use the following standard
6428 message formats for the situations enumerated below.
6434 <p>When daemons are started</p>
6437 If the script starts one or more daemons, the output
6438 should look like this (a single line, no leading
6440 <example compact="compact">
6441 Starting <var>description</var>: <var>daemon-1</var> ... <var>daemon-n</var>.
6443 The <var>description</var> should describe the
6444 subsystem the daemon or set of daemons are part of,
6445 while <var>daemon-1</var> up to <var>daemon-n</var>
6446 denote each daemon's name (typically the file name of
6451 For example, the output of <file>/etc/init.d/lpd</file>
6453 <example compact="compact">
6454 Starting printer spooler: lpd.
6459 This can be achieved by saying
6460 <example compact="compact">
6461 echo -n "Starting printer spooler: lpd"
6462 start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --exec /usr/sbin/lpd
6465 in the script. If there are more than one daemon to
6466 start, the output should look like this:
6467 <example compact="compact">
6468 echo -n "Starting remote file system services:"
6469 echo -n " nfsd"; start-stop-daemon --start --quiet nfsd
6470 echo -n " mountd"; start-stop-daemon --start --quiet mountd
6471 echo -n " ugidd"; start-stop-daemon --start --quiet ugidd
6474 This makes it possible for the user to see what is
6475 happening and when the final daemon has been started.
6476 Care should be taken in the placement of white spaces:
6477 in the example above the system administrators can
6478 easily comment out a line if they don't want to start
6479 a specific daemon, while the displayed message still
6485 <p>When a system parameter is being set</p>
6488 If you have to set up different system parameters
6489 during the system boot, you should use this format:
6490 <example compact="compact">
6491 Setting <var>parameter</var> to "<var>value</var>".
6496 You can use a statement such as the following to get
6498 <example compact="compact">
6499 echo "Setting DNS domainname to \"$domainname\"."
6504 Note that the same symbol (<tt>"</tt>) <!-- " --> is used
6505 for the left and right quotation marks. A grave accent
6506 (<tt>`</tt>) is not a quote character; neither is an
6507 apostrophe (<tt>'</tt>).
6512 <p>When a daemon is stopped or restarted</p>
6515 When you stop or restart a daemon, you should issue a
6516 message identical to the startup message, except that
6517 <tt>Starting</tt> is replaced with <tt>Stopping</tt>
6518 or <tt>Restarting</tt> respectively.
6522 For example, stopping the printer daemon will look like
6524 <example compact="compact">
6525 Stopping printer spooler: lpd.
6531 <p>When something is executed</p>
6534 There are several examples where you have to run a
6535 program at system startup or shutdown to perform a
6536 specific task, for example, setting the system's clock
6537 using <prgn>netdate</prgn> or killing all processes
6538 when the system shuts down. Your message should look
6540 <example compact="compact">
6541 Doing something very useful...done.
6543 You should print the <tt>done.</tt> immediately after
6544 the job has been completed, so that the user is
6545 informed why they have to wait. You can get this
6547 <example compact="compact">
6548 echo -n "Doing something very useful..."
6557 <p>When the configuration is reloaded</p>
6560 When a daemon is forced to reload its configuration
6561 files you should use the following format:
6562 <example compact="compact">
6563 Reloading <var>description</var> configuration...done.
6565 where <var>description</var> is the same as in the
6566 daemon starting message.
6574 <heading>Cron jobs</heading>
6577 Packages must not modify the configuration file
6578 <file>/etc/crontab</file>, and they must not modify the files in
6579 <file>/var/spool/cron/crontabs</file>.</p>
6582 If a package wants to install a job that has to be executed
6583 via cron, it should place a file with the name of the
6584 package in one or more of the following directories:
6585 <example compact="compact">
6591 As these directory names imply, the files within them are
6592 executed on an hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly basis,
6593 respectively. The exact times are listed in
6594 <file>/etc/crontab</file>.</p>
6597 All files installed in any of these directories must be
6598 scripts (e.g., shell scripts or Perl scripts) so that they
6599 can easily be modified by the local system administrator.
6600 In addition, they must be treated as configuration files.
6604 If a certain job has to be executed at some other frequency or
6605 at a specific time, the package should install a file
6606 <file>/etc/cron.d/<var>package</var></file>. This file uses the
6607 same syntax as <file>/etc/crontab</file> and is processed by
6608 <prgn>cron</prgn> automatically. The file must also be
6609 treated as a configuration file. (Note that entries in the
6610 <file>/etc/cron.d</file> directory are not handled by
6611 <prgn>anacron</prgn>. Thus, you should only use this
6612 directory for jobs which may be skipped if the system is not
6615 Unlike <file>crontab</file> files described in the IEEE Std
6616 1003.1-2008 (POSIX.1) available from
6617 <url id="http://www.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/"
6618 name="The Open Group">, the files in
6619 <file>/etc/cron.d</file> and the file
6620 <file>/etc/crontab</file> have seven fields; namely:
6622 <item>Minute [0,59]</item>
6623 <item>Hour [0,23]</item>
6624 <item>Day of the month [1,31]</item>
6625 <item>Month of the year [1,12]</item>
6626 <item>Day of the week ([0,6] with 0=Sunday)</item>
6627 <item>Username</item>
6628 <item>Command to be run</item>
6630 Ranges of numbers are allowed. Ranges are two numbers
6631 separated with a hyphen. The specified range is inclusive.
6632 Lists are allowed. A list is a set of numbers (or ranges)
6633 separated by commas. Step values can be used in conjunction
6638 The scripts or <tt>crontab</tt> entries in these directories should
6639 check if all necessary programs are installed before they
6640 try to execute them. Otherwise, problems will arise when a
6641 package was removed but not purged since configuration files
6642 are kept on the system in this situation.
6646 Any <tt>cron</tt> daemon must provide
6647 <file>/usr/bin/crontab</file> and support normal
6648 <tt>crontab</tt> entries as specified in POSIX. The daemon
6649 must also support names for days and months, ranges, and
6650 step values. It has to support <file>/etc/crontab</file>,
6651 and correctly execute the scripts in
6652 <file>/etc/cron.d</file>. The daemon must also correctly
6654 <file>/etc/cron.{hourly,daily,weekly,monthly}</file>.
6659 <heading>Menus</heading>
6662 The Debian <tt>menu</tt> package provides a standard
6663 interface between packages providing applications and
6664 <em>menu programs</em> (either X window managers or
6665 text-based menu programs such as <prgn>pdmenu</prgn>).
6669 All packages that provide applications that need not be
6670 passed any special command line arguments for normal
6671 operation should register a menu entry for those
6672 applications, so that users of the <tt>menu</tt> package
6673 will automatically get menu entries in their window
6674 managers, as well in shells like <tt>pdmenu</tt>.
6678 Menu entries should follow the current menu policy.
6682 The menu policy can be found in the <tt>menu-policy</tt>
6683 files in the <tt>debian-policy</tt> package.
6684 It is also available from the Debian web mirrors at
6685 <tt><url name="/doc/packaging-manuals/menu-policy/"
6686 id="http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/menu-policy/"></tt>.
6690 Please also refer to the <em>Debian Menu System</em>
6691 documentation that comes with the <package>menu</package>
6692 package for information about how to register your
6698 <heading>Multimedia handlers</heading>
6701 MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions, RFCs 2045-2049)
6702 is a mechanism for encoding files and data streams and
6703 providing meta-information about them, in particular their
6704 type (e.g. audio or video) and format (e.g. PNG, HTML,
6709 Registration of MIME type handlers allows programs like mail
6710 user agents and web browsers to invoke these handlers to
6711 view, edit or display MIME types they don't support directly.
6715 Packages which provide the ability to view/show/play,
6716 compose, edit or print MIME types should register themselves
6717 as such following the current MIME support policy.
6721 The MIME support policy can be found in the <tt>mime-policy</tt>
6722 files in the <tt>debian-policy</tt> package.
6723 It is also available from the Debian web mirrors at
6724 <tt><url name="/doc/packaging-manuals/mime-policy/"
6725 id="http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/mime-policy/"></tt>.
6731 <heading>Keyboard configuration</heading>
6734 To achieve a consistent keyboard configuration so that all
6735 applications interpret a keyboard event the same way, all
6736 programs in the Debian distribution must be configured to
6737 comply with the following guidelines.
6741 The following keys must have the specified interpretations:
6744 <tag><tt><--</tt></tag>
6745 <item>delete the character to the left of the cursor</item>
6747 <tag><tt>Delete</tt></tag>
6748 <item>delete the character to the right of the cursor</item>
6750 <tag><tt>Control+H</tt></tag>
6751 <item>emacs: the help prefix</item>
6754 The interpretation of any keyboard events should be
6755 independent of the terminal that is used, be it a virtual
6756 console, an X terminal emulator, an rlogin/telnet session,
6761 The following list explains how the different programs
6762 should be set up to achieve this:
6768 <tt><--</tt> generates <tt>KB_BackSpace</tt> in X.
6772 <tt>Delete</tt> generates <tt>KB_Delete</tt> in X.
6776 X translations are set up to make
6777 <tt>KB_Backspace</tt> generate ASCII DEL, and to make
6778 <tt>KB_Delete</tt> generate <tt>ESC [ 3 ~</tt> (this
6779 is the vt220 escape code for the "delete character"
6780 key). This must be done by loading the X resources
6781 using <prgn>xrdb</prgn> on all local X displays, not
6782 using the application defaults, so that the
6783 translation resources used correspond to the
6784 <prgn>xmodmap</prgn> settings.
6788 The Linux console is configured to make
6789 <tt><--</tt> generate DEL, and <tt>Delete</tt>
6790 generate <tt>ESC [ 3 ~</tt>.
6794 X applications are configured so that <tt><</tt>
6795 deletes left, and <tt>Delete</tt> deletes right. Motif
6796 applications already work like this.
6800 Terminals should have <tt>stty erase ^?</tt> .
6804 The <tt>xterm</tt> terminfo entry should have <tt>ESC
6805 [ 3 ~</tt> for <tt>kdch1</tt>, just as for
6806 <tt>TERM=linux</tt> and <tt>TERM=vt220</tt>.
6810 Emacs is programmed to map <tt>KB_Backspace</tt> or
6811 the <tt>stty erase</tt> character to
6812 <tt>delete-backward-char</tt>, and <tt>KB_Delete</tt>
6813 or <tt>kdch1</tt> to <tt>delete-forward-char</tt>, and
6814 <tt>^H</tt> to <tt>help</tt> as always.
6818 Other applications use the <tt>stty erase</tt>
6819 character and <tt>kdch1</tt> for the two delete keys,
6820 with ASCII DEL being "delete previous character" and
6821 <tt>kdch1</tt> being "delete character under
6829 This will solve the problem except for the following
6836 Some terminals have a <tt><--</tt> key that cannot
6837 be made to produce anything except <tt>^H</tt>. On
6838 these terminals Emacs help will be unavailable on
6839 <tt>^H</tt> (assuming that the <tt>stty erase</tt>
6840 character takes precedence in Emacs, and has been set
6841 correctly). <tt>M-x help</tt> or <tt>F1</tt> (if
6842 available) can be used instead.
6846 Some operating systems use <tt>^H</tt> for <tt>stty
6847 erase</tt>. However, modern telnet versions and all
6848 rlogin versions propagate <tt>stty</tt> settings, and
6849 almost all UNIX versions honour <tt>stty erase</tt>.
6850 Where the <tt>stty</tt> settings are not propagated
6851 correctly, things can be made to work by using
6852 <tt>stty</tt> manually.
6856 Some systems (including previous Debian versions) use
6857 <prgn>xmodmap</prgn> to arrange for both
6858 <tt><--</tt> and <tt>Delete</tt> to generate
6859 <tt>KB_Delete</tt>. We can change the behavior of
6860 their X clients using the same X resources that we use
6861 to do it for our own clients, or configure our clients
6862 using their resources when things are the other way
6863 around. On displays configured like this
6864 <tt>Delete</tt> will not work, but <tt><--</tt>
6869 Some operating systems have different <tt>kdch1</tt>
6870 settings in their <tt>terminfo</tt> database for
6871 <tt>xterm</tt> and others. On these systems the
6872 <tt>Delete</tt> key will not work correctly when you
6873 log in from a system conforming to our policy, but
6874 <tt><--</tt> will.
6881 <heading>Environment variables</heading>
6884 A program must not depend on environment variables to get
6885 reasonable defaults. (That's because these environment
6886 variables would have to be set in a system-wide
6887 configuration file like <file>/etc/profile</file>, which is not
6888 supported by all shells.)
6892 If a program usually depends on environment variables for its
6893 configuration, the program should be changed to fall back to
6894 a reasonable default configuration if these environment
6895 variables are not present. If this cannot be done easily
6896 (e.g., if the source code of a non-free program is not
6897 available), the program must be replaced by a small
6898 "wrapper" shell script which sets the environment variables
6899 if they are not already defined, and calls the original program.
6903 Here is an example of a wrapper script for this purpose:
6905 <example compact="compact">
6907 BAR=${BAR:-/var/lib/fubar}
6909 exec /usr/lib/foo/foo "$@"
6914 Furthermore, as <file>/etc/profile</file> is a configuration
6915 file of the <prgn>base-files</prgn> package, other packages must
6916 not put any environment variables or other commands into that
6921 <sect id="doc-base">
6922 <heading>Registering Documents using doc-base</heading>
6925 The <package>doc-base</package> package implements a
6926 flexible mechanism for handling and presenting
6927 documentation. The recommended practice is for every Debian
6928 package that provides online documentation (other than just
6929 manual pages) to register these documents with
6930 <package>doc-base</package> by installing a
6931 <package>doc-base</package> control file via the
6932 <prgn/install-docs/ script at installation time and
6933 de-register the manuals again when the package is removed.
6936 Please refer to the documentation that comes with the
6937 <package>doc-base</package> package for information and
6946 <heading>Files</heading>
6949 <heading>Binaries</heading>
6952 Two different packages must not install programs with
6953 different functionality but with the same filenames. (The
6954 case of two programs having the same functionality but
6955 different implementations is handled via "alternatives" or
6956 the "Conflicts" mechanism. See <ref id="maintscripts"> and
6957 <ref id="conflicts"> respectively.) If this case happens,
6958 one of the programs must be renamed. The maintainers should
6959 report this to the <tt>debian-devel</tt> mailing list and
6960 try to find a consensus about which program will have to be
6961 renamed. If a consensus cannot be reached, <em>both</em>
6962 programs must be renamed.
6966 By default, when a package is being built, any binaries
6967 created should include debugging information, as well as
6968 being compiled with optimization. You should also turn on
6969 as many reasonable compilation warnings as possible; this
6970 makes life easier for porters, who can then look at build
6971 logs for possible problems. For the C programming language,
6972 this means the following compilation parameters should be
6974 <example compact="compact">
6976 CFLAGS = -O2 -g -Wall # sane warning options vary between programs
6978 INSTALL = install -s # (or use strip on the files in debian/tmp)
6983 Note that by default all installed binaries should be stripped,
6984 either by using the <tt>-s</tt> flag to
6985 <prgn>install</prgn>, or by calling <prgn>strip</prgn> on
6986 the binaries after they have been copied into
6987 <file>debian/tmp</file> but before the tree is made into a
6992 Although binaries in the build tree should be compiled with
6993 debugging information by default, it can often be difficult to
6994 debug programs if they are also subjected to compiler
6995 optimization. For this reason, it is recommended to support the
6996 standardized environment variable <tt>DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS</tt>
6997 (see <ref id="debianrules-options">). This variable can contain
6998 several flags to change how a package is compiled and built.
7002 It is up to the package maintainer to decide what
7003 compilation options are best for the package. Certain
7004 binaries (such as computationally-intensive programs) will
7005 function better with certain flags (<tt>-O3</tt>, for
7006 example); feel free to use them. Please use good judgment
7007 here. Don't use flags for the sake of it; only use them
7008 if there is good reason to do so. Feel free to override
7009 the upstream author's ideas about which compilation
7010 options are best: they are often inappropriate for our
7016 <sect id="libraries">
7017 <heading>Libraries</heading>
7020 If the package is <strong>architecture: any</strong>, then
7021 the shared library compilation and linking flags must have
7022 <tt>-fPIC</tt>, or the package shall not build on some of
7023 the supported architectures<footnote>
7025 If you are using GCC, <tt>-fPIC</tt> produces code with
7026 relocatable position independent code, which is required for
7027 most architectures to create a shared library, with i386 and
7028 perhaps some others where non position independent code is
7029 permitted in a shared library.
7032 Position independent code may have a performance penalty,
7033 especially on <tt>i386</tt>. However, in most cases the
7034 speed penalty must be measured against the memory wasted on
7035 the few architectures where non position independent code is
7038 </footnote>. Any exception to this rule must be discussed on
7039 the mailing list <em>debian-devel@lists.debian.org</em>, and
7040 a rough consensus obtained. The reasons for not compiling
7041 with <tt>-fPIC</tt> flag must be recorded in the file
7042 <tt>README.Debian</tt>, and care must be taken to either
7043 restrict the architecture or arrange for <tt>-fPIC</tt> to
7044 be used on architectures where it is required.<footnote>
7046 Some of the reasons why this might be required is if the
7047 library contains hand crafted assembly code that is not
7048 relocatable, the speed penalty is excessive for compute
7049 intensive libs, and similar reasons.
7054 As to the static libraries, the common case is not to have
7055 relocatable code, since there is no benefit, unless in specific
7056 cases; therefore the static version must not be compiled
7057 with the <tt>-fPIC</tt> flag. Any exception to this rule
7058 should be discussed on the mailing list
7059 <em>debian-devel@lists.debian.org</em>, and the reasons for
7060 compiling with the <tt>-fPIC</tt> flag must be recorded in
7061 the file <tt>README.Debian</tt>. <footnote>
7063 Some of the reasons for linking static libraries with
7064 the <tt>-fPIC</tt> flag are if, for example, one needs a
7065 Perl API for a library that is under rapid development,
7066 and has an unstable API, so shared libraries are
7067 pointless at this phase of the library's development. In
7068 that case, since Perl needs a library with relocatable
7069 code, it may make sense to create a static library with
7070 relocatable code. Another reason cited is if you are
7071 distilling various libraries into a common shared
7072 library, like <tt>mklibs</tt> does in the Debian
7078 In other words, if both a shared and a static library is
7079 being built, each source unit (<tt>*.c</tt>, for example,
7080 for C files) will need to be compiled twice, for the normal
7084 You must specify the gcc option <tt>-D_REENTRANT</tt>
7085 when building a library (either static or shared) to make
7086 the library compatible with LinuxThreads.
7090 Although not enforced by the build tools, shared libraries
7091 must be linked against all libraries that they use symbols from
7092 in the same way that binaries are. This ensures the correct
7093 functioning of the <qref id="sharedlibs-shlibdeps">shlibs</qref>
7094 system and guarantees that all libraries can be safely opened
7095 with <tt>dlopen()</tt>. Packagers may wish to use the gcc
7096 option <tt>-Wl,-z,defs</tt> when building a shared library.
7097 Since this option enforces symbol resolution at build time,
7098 a missing library reference will be caught early as a fatal
7103 All installed shared libraries should be stripped with
7104 <example compact="compact">
7105 strip --strip-unneeded <var>your-lib</var>
7107 (The option <tt>--strip-unneeded</tt> makes
7108 <prgn>strip</prgn> remove only the symbols which aren't
7109 needed for relocation processing.) Shared libraries can
7110 function perfectly well when stripped, since the symbols for
7111 dynamic linking are in a separate part of the ELF object
7113 You might also want to use the options
7114 <tt>--remove-section=.comment</tt> and
7115 <tt>--remove-section=.note</tt> on both shared libraries
7116 and executables, and <tt>--strip-debug</tt> on static
7122 Note that under some circumstances it may be useful to
7123 install a shared library unstripped, for example when
7124 building a separate package to support debugging.
7128 Shared object files (often <file>.so</file> files) that are not
7129 public libraries, that is, they are not meant to be linked
7130 to by third party executables (binaries of other packages),
7131 should be installed in subdirectories of the
7132 <file>/usr/lib</file> directory. Such files are exempt from the
7133 rules that govern ordinary shared libraries, except that
7134 they must not be installed executable and should be
7136 A common example are the so-called "plug-ins",
7137 internal shared objects that are dynamically loaded by
7138 programs using <manref name="dlopen" section="3">.
7143 An ever increasing number of packages are using
7144 <prgn>libtool</prgn> to do their linking. The latest GNU
7145 libtools (>= 1.3a) can take advantage of the metadata in the
7146 installed <prgn>libtool</prgn> archive files (<file>*.la</file>
7147 files). The main advantage of <prgn>libtool</prgn>'s
7148 <file>.la</file> files is that it allows <prgn>libtool</prgn> to
7149 store and subsequently access metadata with respect to the
7150 libraries it builds. <prgn>libtool</prgn> will search for
7151 those files, which contain a lot of useful information about
7152 a library (such as library dependency information for static
7153 linking). Also, they're <em>essential</em> for programs
7154 using <tt>libltdl</tt>.<footnote>
7155 Although <prgn>libtool</prgn> is fully capable of
7156 linking against shared libraries which don't have
7157 <tt>.la</tt> files, as it is a mere shell script it can
7158 add considerably to the build time of a
7159 <prgn>libtool</prgn>-using package if that shell script
7160 has to derive all this information from first principles
7161 for each library every time it is linked. With the
7162 advent of <prgn>libtool</prgn> version 1.4 (and to a
7163 lesser extent <prgn>libtool</prgn> version 1.3), the
7164 <file>.la</file> files also store information about
7165 inter-library dependencies which cannot necessarily be
7166 derived after the <file>.la</file> file is deleted.
7171 Packages that use <prgn>libtool</prgn> to create shared
7172 libraries should include the <file>.la</file> files in the
7173 <tt>-dev</tt> package, unless the package relies on
7174 <tt>libtool</tt>'s <tt>libltdl</tt> library, in which case
7175 the <tt>.la</tt> files must go in the run-time library
7180 You must make sure that you use only released versions of
7181 shared libraries to build your packages; otherwise other
7182 users will not be able to run your binaries
7183 properly. Producing source packages that depend on
7184 unreleased compilers is also usually a bad
7191 <heading>Shared libraries</heading>
7193 This section has moved to <ref id="sharedlibs">.
7199 <heading>Scripts</heading>
7202 All command scripts, including the package maintainer
7203 scripts inside the package and used by <prgn>dpkg</prgn>,
7204 should have a <tt>#!</tt> line naming the shell to be used
7209 In the case of Perl scripts this should be
7210 <tt>#!/usr/bin/perl</tt>.
7214 When scripts are installed into a directory in the system
7215 PATH, the script name should not include an extension such
7216 as <tt>.sh</tt> or <tt>.pl</tt> that denotes the scripting
7217 language currently used to implement it.
7220 Shell scripts (<prgn>sh</prgn> and <prgn>bash</prgn>) other than
7221 <file>init.d</file> scripts should almost certainly start
7222 with <tt>set -e</tt> so that errors are detected.
7223 <file>init.d</file> scripts are something of a special case, due
7224 to how frequently they need to call commands that are allowed to
7225 fail, and it may instead be easier to check the exit status of
7226 commands directly. See <ref id="writing-init"> for more
7227 information about writing <file>init.d</file> scripts.
7230 Every script should use <tt>set -e</tt> or check the exit status
7231 of <em>every</em> command.
7234 Scripts may assume that <file>/bin/sh</file> implements the
7235 SUSv3 Shell Command Language<footnote>
7236 Single UNIX Specification, version 3, which is also IEEE
7237 1003.1-2004 (POSIX), and is available on the World Wide Web
7238 from <url id="http://www.unix.org/version3/online.html"
7239 name="The Open Group"> after free
7240 registration.</footnote>
7241 plus the following additional features not mandated by
7243 These features are in widespread use in the Linux community
7244 and are implemented in all of bash, dash, and ksh, the most
7245 common shells users may wish to use as <file>/bin/sh</file>.
7248 <item><tt>echo -n</tt>, if implemented as a shell built-in,
7249 must not generate a newline.</item>
7250 <item><tt>test</tt>, if implemented as a shell built-in, must
7251 support <tt>-a</tt> and <tt>-o</tt> as binary logical
7253 <item><tt>local</tt> to create a scoped variable must be
7254 supported, including listing multiple variables in a single
7255 local command and assigning a value to a variable at the
7256 same time as localizing it. <tt>local</tt> may or
7257 may not preserve the variable value from an outer scope if
7258 no assignment is present. Uses such as:
7262 # ... use a, b, c, d ...
7265 must be supported and must set the value of <tt>c</tt> to
7269 If a shell script requires non-SUSv3 features from the shell
7270 interpreter other than those listed above, the appropriate shell
7271 must be specified in the first line of the script (e.g.,
7272 <tt>#!/bin/bash</tt>) and the package must depend on the package
7273 providing the shell (unless the shell package is marked
7274 "Essential", as in the case of <prgn>bash</prgn>).
7278 You may wish to restrict your script to SUSv3 features plus the
7279 above set when possible so that it may use <file>/bin/sh</file>
7280 as its interpreter. If your script works with <prgn>dash</prgn>
7281 (originally called <prgn>ash</prgn>), it probably complies with
7282 the above requirements, but if you are in doubt, use
7283 <file>/bin/bash</file>.
7287 Perl scripts should check for errors when making any
7288 system calls, including <tt>open</tt>, <tt>print</tt>,
7289 <tt>close</tt>, <tt>rename</tt> and <tt>system</tt>.
7293 <prgn>csh</prgn> and <prgn>tcsh</prgn> should be avoided as
7294 scripting languages. See <em>Csh Programming Considered
7295 Harmful</em>, one of the <tt>comp.unix.*</tt> FAQs, which
7296 can be found at <url id="http://www.faqs.org/faqs/unix-faq/shell/csh-whynot/">.
7297 If an upstream package comes with <prgn>csh</prgn> scripts
7298 then you must make sure that they start with
7299 <tt>#!/bin/csh</tt> and make your package depend on the
7300 <prgn>c-shell</prgn> virtual package.
7304 Any scripts which create files in world-writeable
7305 directories (e.g., in <file>/tmp</file>) must use a
7306 mechanism which will fail atomically if a file with the same
7307 name already exists.
7311 The Debian base system provides the <prgn>tempfile</prgn>
7312 and <prgn>mktemp</prgn> utilities for use by scripts for
7319 <heading>Symbolic links</heading>
7322 In general, symbolic links within a top-level directory
7323 should be relative, and symbolic links pointing from one
7324 top-level directory into another should be absolute. (A
7325 top-level directory is a sub-directory of the root
7326 directory <file>/</file>.)
7330 In addition, symbolic links should be specified as short as
7331 possible, i.e., link targets like <file>foo/../bar</file> are
7336 Note that when creating a relative link using
7337 <prgn>ln</prgn> it is not necessary for the target of the
7338 link to exist relative to the working directory you're
7339 running <prgn>ln</prgn> from, nor is it necessary to change
7340 directory to the directory where the link is to be made.
7341 Simply include the string that should appear as the target
7342 of the link (this will be a pathname relative to the
7343 directory in which the link resides) as the first argument
7348 For example, in your <prgn>Makefile</prgn> or
7349 <file>debian/rules</file>, you can do things like:
7350 <example compact="compact">
7351 ln -fs gcc $(prefix)/bin/cc
7352 ln -fs gcc debian/tmp/usr/bin/cc
7353 ln -fs ../sbin/sendmail $(prefix)/bin/runq
7354 ln -fs ../sbin/sendmail debian/tmp/usr/bin/runq
7359 A symbolic link pointing to a compressed file should always
7360 have the same file extension as the referenced file. (For
7361 example, if a file <file>foo.gz</file> is referenced by a
7362 symbolic link, the filename of the link has to end with
7363 "<file>.gz</file>" too, as in <file>bar.gz</file>.)
7368 <heading>Device files</heading>
7371 Packages must not include device files or named pipes in the
7376 If a package needs any special device files that are not
7377 included in the base system, it must call
7378 <prgn>MAKEDEV</prgn> in the <prgn>postinst</prgn> script,
7379 after notifying the user<footnote>
7380 This notification could be done via a (low-priority)
7381 debconf message, or an echo (printf) statement.
7386 Packages must not remove any device files in the
7387 <prgn>postrm</prgn> or any other script. This is left to the
7388 system administrator.
7392 Debian uses the serial devices
7393 <file>/dev/ttyS*</file>. Programs using the old
7394 <file>/dev/cu*</file> devices should be changed to use
7395 <file>/dev/ttyS*</file>.
7399 Named pipes needed by the package must be created in
7400 the <prgn>postinst</prgn> script<footnote>
7401 It's better to use <prgn>mkfifo</prgn> rather
7402 than <prgn>mknod</prgn> to create named pipes so that
7403 automated checks for packages incorrectly creating device
7404 files with <prgn>mknod</prgn> won't have false positives.
7405 </footnote> and removed in
7406 the <prgn>prerm</prgn> or <prgn>postrm</prgn> script as
7411 <sect id="config-files">
7412 <heading>Configuration files</heading>
7415 <heading>Definitions</heading>
7419 <tag>configuration file</tag>
7421 A file that affects the operation of a program, or
7422 provides site- or host-specific information, or
7423 otherwise customizes the behavior of a program.
7424 Typically, configuration files are intended to be
7425 modified by the system administrator (if needed or
7426 desired) to conform to local policy or to provide
7427 more useful site-specific behavior.
7430 <tag><tt>conffile</tt></tag>
7432 A file listed in a package's <tt>conffiles</tt>
7433 file, and is treated specially by <prgn>dpkg</prgn>
7434 (see <ref id="configdetails">).
7440 The distinction between these two is important; they are
7441 not interchangeable concepts. Almost all
7442 <tt>conffile</tt>s are configuration files, but many
7443 configuration files are not <tt>conffiles</tt>.
7447 As noted elsewhere, <file>/etc/init.d</file> scripts,
7448 <file>/etc/default</file> files, scripts installed in
7449 <file>/etc/cron.{hourly,daily,weekly,monthly}</file>, and cron
7450 configuration installed in <file>/etc/cron.d</file> must be
7451 treated as configuration files. In general, any script that
7452 embeds configuration information is de-facto a configuration
7453 file and should be treated as such.
7458 <heading>Location</heading>
7461 Any configuration files created or used by your package
7462 must reside in <file>/etc</file>. If there are several,
7463 consider creating a subdirectory of <file>/etc</file>
7464 named after your package.
7468 If your package creates or uses configuration files
7469 outside of <file>/etc</file>, and it is not feasible to modify
7470 the package to use <file>/etc</file> directly, put the files
7471 in <file>/etc</file> and create symbolic links to those files
7472 from the location that the package requires.
7477 <heading>Behavior</heading>
7480 Configuration file handling must conform to the following
7482 <list compact="compact">
7484 local changes must be preserved during a package
7488 configuration files must be preserved when the
7489 package is removed, and only deleted when the
7496 The easy way to achieve this behavior is to make the
7497 configuration file a <tt>conffile</tt>. This is
7498 appropriate only if it is possible to distribute a default
7499 version that will work for most installations, although
7500 some system administrators may choose to modify it. This
7501 implies that the default version will be part of the
7502 package distribution, and must not be modified by the
7503 maintainer scripts during installation (or at any other
7508 In order to ensure that local changes are preserved
7509 correctly, no package may contain or make hard links to
7510 conffiles.<footnote>
7511 Rationale: There are two problems with hard links.
7512 The first is that some editors break the link while
7513 editing one of the files, so that the two files may
7514 unwittingly become unlinked and different. The second
7515 is that <prgn>dpkg</prgn> might break the hard link
7516 while upgrading <tt>conffile</tt>s.
7521 The other way to do it is via the maintainer scripts. In
7522 this case, the configuration file must not be listed as a
7523 <tt>conffile</tt> and must not be part of the package
7524 distribution. If the existence of a file is required for
7525 the package to be sensibly configured it is the
7526 responsibility of the package maintainer to provide
7527 maintainer scripts which correctly create, update and
7528 maintain the file and remove it on purge. (See <ref
7529 id="maintainerscripts"> for more information.) These
7530 scripts must be idempotent (i.e., must work correctly if
7531 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> needs to re-run them due to errors
7532 during installation or removal), must cope with all the
7533 variety of ways <prgn>dpkg</prgn> can call maintainer
7534 scripts, must not overwrite or otherwise mangle the user's
7535 configuration without asking, must not ask unnecessary
7536 questions (particularly during upgrades), and must
7537 otherwise be good citizens.
7541 The scripts are not required to configure every possible
7542 option for the package, but only those necessary to get
7543 the package running on a given system. Ideally the
7544 sysadmin should not have to do any configuration other
7545 than that done (semi-)automatically by the
7546 <prgn>postinst</prgn> script.
7550 A common practice is to create a script called
7551 <file><var>package</var>-configure</file> and have the
7552 package's <prgn>postinst</prgn> call it if and only if the
7553 configuration file does not already exist. In certain
7554 cases it is useful for there to be an example or template
7555 file which the maintainer scripts use. Such files should
7556 be in <file>/usr/share/<var>package</var></file> or
7557 <file>/usr/lib/<var>package</var></file> (depending on whether
7558 they are architecture-independent or not). There should
7559 be symbolic links to them from
7560 <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/examples</file> if
7561 they are examples, and should be perfectly ordinary
7562 <prgn>dpkg</prgn>-handled files (<em>not</em>
7563 configuration files).
7567 These two styles of configuration file handling must
7568 not be mixed, for that way lies madness:
7569 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> will ask about overwriting the file
7570 every time the package is upgraded.
7575 <heading>Sharing configuration files</heading>
7578 Packages which specify the same file as a
7579 <tt>conffile</tt> must be tagged as <em>conflicting</em>
7580 with each other. (This is an instance of the general rule
7581 about not sharing files. Note that neither alternatives
7582 nor diversions are likely to be appropriate in this case;
7583 in particular, <prgn>dpkg</prgn> does not handle diverted
7584 <tt>conffile</tt>s well.)
7588 The maintainer scripts must not alter a <tt>conffile</tt>
7589 of <em>any</em> package, including the one the scripts
7594 If two or more packages use the same configuration file
7595 and it is reasonable for both to be installed at the same
7596 time, one of these packages must be defined as
7597 <em>owner</em> of the configuration file, i.e., it will be
7598 the package which handles that file as a configuration
7599 file. Other packages that use the configuration file must
7600 depend on the owning package if they require the
7601 configuration file to operate. If the other package will
7602 use the configuration file if present, but is capable of
7603 operating without it, no dependency need be declared.
7607 If it is desirable for two or more related packages to
7608 share a configuration file <em>and</em> for all of the
7609 related packages to be able to modify that configuration
7610 file, then the following should be done:
7611 <enumlist compact="compact">
7613 One of the related packages (the "owning" package)
7614 will manage the configuration file with maintainer
7615 scripts as described in the previous section.
7618 The owning package should also provide a program
7619 that the other packages may use to modify the
7623 The related packages must use the provided program
7624 to make any desired modifications to the
7625 configuration file. They should either depend on
7626 the core package to guarantee that the configuration
7627 modifier program is available or accept gracefully
7628 that they cannot modify the configuration file if it
7629 is not. (This is in addition to the fact that the
7630 configuration file may not even be present in the
7637 Sometimes it's appropriate to create a new package which
7638 provides the basic infrastructure for the other packages
7639 and which manages the shared configuration files. (The
7640 <tt>sgml-base</tt> package is a good example.)
7645 <heading>User configuration files ("dotfiles")</heading>
7648 The files in <file>/etc/skel</file> will automatically be
7649 copied into new user accounts by <prgn>adduser</prgn>.
7650 No other program should reference the files in
7651 <file>/etc/skel</file>.
7655 Therefore, if a program needs a dotfile to exist in
7656 advance in <file>$HOME</file> to work sensibly, that dotfile
7657 should be installed in <file>/etc/skel</file> and treated as a
7662 However, programs that require dotfiles in order to
7663 operate sensibly are a bad thing, unless they do create
7664 the dotfiles themselves automatically.
7668 Furthermore, programs should be configured by the Debian
7669 default installation to behave as closely to the upstream
7670 default behavior as possible.
7674 Therefore, if a program in a Debian package needs to be
7675 configured in some way in order to operate sensibly, that
7676 should be done using a site-wide configuration file placed
7677 in <file>/etc</file>. Only if the program doesn't support a
7678 site-wide default configuration and the package maintainer
7679 doesn't have time to add it may a default per-user file be
7680 placed in <file>/etc/skel</file>.
7684 <file>/etc/skel</file> should be as empty as we can make it.
7685 This is particularly true because there is no easy (or
7686 necessarily desirable) mechanism for ensuring that the
7687 appropriate dotfiles are copied into the accounts of
7688 existing users when a package is installed.
7694 <heading>Log files</heading>
7696 Log files should usually be named
7697 <file>/var/log/<var>package</var>.log</file>. If you have many
7698 log files, or need a separate directory for permission
7699 reasons (<file>/var/log</file> is writable only by
7700 <file>root</file>), you should usually create a directory named
7701 <file>/var/log/<var>package</var></file> and place your log
7706 Log files must be rotated occasionally so that they don't
7707 grow indefinitely; the best way to do this is to drop a log
7708 rotation configuration file into the directory
7709 <file>/etc/logrotate.d</file> and use the facilities provided by
7710 logrotate.<footnote>
7712 The traditional approach to log files has been to set up
7713 <em>ad hoc</em> log rotation schemes using simple shell
7714 scripts and cron. While this approach is highly
7715 customizable, it requires quite a lot of sysadmin work.
7716 Even though the original Debian system helped a little
7717 by automatically installing a system which can be used
7718 as a template, this was deemed not enough.
7722 The use of <prgn>logrotate</prgn>, a program developed
7723 by Red Hat, is better, as it centralizes log management.
7724 It has both a configuration file
7725 (<file>/etc/logrotate.conf</file>) and a directory where
7726 packages can drop their individual log rotation
7727 configurations (<file>/etc/logrotate.d</file>).
7730 Here is a good example for a logrotate config
7731 file (for more information see <manref name="logrotate"
7733 <example compact="compact">
7734 /var/log/foo/*.log {
7739 /etc/init.d/foo force-reload
7743 This rotates all files under <file>/var/log/foo</file>, saves 12
7744 compressed generations, and forces the daemon to reload its
7745 configuration information after the log rotation.
7749 Log files should be removed when the package is
7750 purged (but not when it is only removed). This should be
7751 done by the <prgn>postrm</prgn> script when it is called
7752 with the argument <tt>purge</tt> (see <ref
7753 id="removedetails">).
7758 <heading>Permissions and owners</heading>
7761 The rules in this section are guidelines for general use.
7762 If necessary you may deviate from the details below.
7763 However, if you do so you must make sure that what is done
7764 is secure and you should try to be as consistent as possible
7765 with the rest of the system. You should probably also
7766 discuss it on <prgn>debian-devel</prgn> first.
7770 Files should be owned by <tt>root:root</tt>, and made
7771 writable only by the owner and universally readable (and
7772 executable, if appropriate), that is mode 644 or 755.
7776 Directories should be mode 755 or (for group-writability)
7777 mode 2775. The ownership of the directory should be
7778 consistent with its mode: if a directory is mode 2775, it
7779 should be owned by the group that needs write access to
7782 When a package is upgraded, and the owner or permissions
7783 of a file included in the package has changed, dpkg
7784 arranges for the ownership and permissions to be
7785 correctly set upon installation. However, this does not
7786 extend to directories; the permissions and ownership of
7787 directories already on the system does not change on
7788 install or upgrade of packages. This makes sense, since
7789 otherwise common directories like <tt>/usr</tt> would
7790 always be in flux. To correctly change permissions of a
7791 directory the package owns, explicit action is required,
7792 usually in the <tt>postinst</tt> script. Care must be
7793 taken to handle downgrades as well, in that case.
7800 Setuid and setgid executables should be mode 4755 or 2755
7801 respectively, and owned by the appropriate user or group.
7802 They should not be made unreadable (modes like 4711 or
7803 2711 or even 4111); doing so achieves no extra security,
7804 because anyone can find the binary in the freely available
7805 Debian package; it is merely inconvenient. For the same
7806 reason you should not restrict read or execute permissions
7807 on non-set-id executables.
7811 Some setuid programs need to be restricted to particular
7812 sets of users, using file permissions. In this case they
7813 should be owned by the uid to which they are set-id, and by
7814 the group which should be allowed to execute them. They
7815 should have mode 4754; again there is no point in making
7816 them unreadable to those users who must not be allowed to
7821 It is possible to arrange that the system administrator can
7822 reconfigure the package to correspond to their local
7823 security policy by changing the permissions on a binary:
7824 they can do this by using <prgn>dpkg-statoverride</prgn>, as
7825 described below.<footnote>
7826 Ordinary files installed by <prgn>dpkg</prgn> (as
7827 opposed to <tt>conffile</tt>s and other similar objects)
7828 normally have their permissions reset to the distributed
7829 permissions when the package is reinstalled. However,
7830 the use of <prgn>dpkg-statoverride</prgn> overrides this
7833 Another method you should consider is to create a group for
7834 people allowed to use the program(s) and make any setuid
7835 executables executable only by that group.
7839 If you need to create a new user or group for your package
7840 there are two possibilities. Firstly, you may need to
7841 make some files in the binary package be owned by this
7842 user or group, or you may need to compile the user or
7843 group id (rather than just the name) into the binary
7844 (though this latter should be avoided if possible, as in
7845 this case you need a statically allocated id).</p>
7848 If you need a statically allocated id, you must ask for a
7849 user or group id from the <tt>base-passwd</tt> maintainer,
7850 and must not release the package until you have been
7851 allocated one. Once you have been allocated one you must
7852 either make the package depend on a version of the
7853 <tt>base-passwd</tt> package with the id present in
7854 <file>/etc/passwd</file> or <file>/etc/group</file>, or arrange for
7855 your package to create the user or group itself with the
7856 correct id (using <tt>adduser</tt>) in its
7857 <prgn>preinst</prgn> or <prgn>postinst</prgn>. (Doing it in
7858 the <prgn>postinst</prgn> is to be preferred if it is
7859 possible, otherwise a pre-dependency will be needed on the
7860 <tt>adduser</tt> package.)
7864 On the other hand, the program might be able to determine
7865 the uid or gid from the user or group name at runtime, so
7866 that a dynamically allocated id can be used. In this case
7867 you should choose an appropriate user or group name,
7868 discussing this on <prgn>debian-devel</prgn> and checking
7869 with the <package/base-passwd/ maintainer that it is unique and that
7870 they do not wish you to use a statically allocated id
7871 instead. When this has been checked you must arrange for
7872 your package to create the user or group if necessary using
7873 <prgn>adduser</prgn> in the <prgn>preinst</prgn> or
7874 <prgn>postinst</prgn> script (again, the latter is to be
7875 preferred if it is possible).
7879 Note that changing the numeric value of an id associated
7880 with a name is very difficult, and involves searching the
7881 file system for all appropriate files. You need to think
7882 carefully whether a static or dynamic id is required, since
7883 changing your mind later will cause problems.
7886 <sect1><heading>The use of <prgn>dpkg-statoverride</prgn></heading>
7888 This section is not intended as policy, but as a
7889 description of the use of <prgn>dpkg-statoverride</prgn>.
7893 If a system administrator wishes to have a file (or
7894 directory or other such thing) installed with owner and
7895 permissions different from those in the distributed Debian
7896 package, they can use the <prgn>dpkg-statoverride</prgn>
7897 program to instruct <prgn>dpkg</prgn> to use the different
7898 settings every time the file is installed. Thus the
7899 package maintainer should distribute the files with their
7900 normal permissions, and leave it for the system
7901 administrator to make any desired changes. For example, a
7902 daemon which is normally required to be setuid root, but
7903 in certain situations could be used without being setuid,
7904 should be installed setuid in the <tt>.deb</tt>. Then the
7905 local system administrator can change this if they wish.
7906 If there are two standard ways of doing it, the package
7907 maintainer can use <tt>debconf</tt> to find out the
7908 preference, and call <prgn>dpkg-statoverride</prgn> in the
7909 maintainer script if necessary to accommodate the system
7910 administrator's choice. Care must be taken during
7911 upgrades to not override an existing setting.
7915 Given the above, <prgn>dpkg-statoverride</prgn> is
7916 essentially a tool for system administrators and would not
7917 normally be needed in the maintainer scripts. There is
7918 one type of situation, though, where calls to
7919 <prgn>dpkg-statoverride</prgn> would be needed in the
7920 maintainer scripts, and that involves packages which use
7921 dynamically allocated user or group ids. In such a
7922 situation, something like the following idiom can be very
7923 helpful in the package's <prgn>postinst</prgn>, where
7924 <tt>sysuser</tt> is a dynamically allocated id:
7926 for i in /usr/bin/foo /usr/sbin/bar
7928 # only do something when no setting exists
7929 if ! dpkg-statoverride --list $i >/dev/null 2>&1
7931 #include: debconf processing, question about foo and bar
7932 if [ "$RET" = "true" ] ; then
7933 dpkg-statoverride --update --add sysuser root 4755 $i
7938 The corresponding code to remove the override when the package
7941 for i in /usr/bin/foo /usr/sbin/bar
7943 if dpkg-statoverride --list $i >/dev/null 2>&1
7945 dpkg-statoverride --remove $i
7955 <chapt id="customized-programs">
7956 <heading>Customized programs</heading>
7958 <sect id="arch-spec">
7959 <heading>Architecture specification strings</heading>
7962 If a program needs to specify an <em>architecture specification
7963 string</em> in some place, it should select one of the
7964 strings provided by <tt>dpkg-architecture -L</tt>. The
7965 strings are in the format
7966 <tt><var>os</var>-<var>arch</var></tt>, though the OS part
7967 is sometimes elided, as when the OS is Linux.<footnote>
7968 <p>Currently, the strings are:
7969 i386 ia64 alpha amd64 armeb arm hppa m32r m68k mips
7970 mipsel powerpc ppc64 s390 s390x sh3 sh3eb sh4 sh4eb
7971 sparc darwin-i386 darwin-ia64 darwin-alpha darwin-amd64
7972 darwin-armeb darwin-arm darwin-hppa darwin-m32r
7973 darwin-m68k darwin-mips darwin-mipsel darwin-powerpc
7974 darwin-ppc64 darwin-s390 darwin-s390x darwin-sh3
7975 darwin-sh3eb darwin-sh4 darwin-sh4eb darwin-sparc
7976 freebsd-i386 freebsd-ia64 freebsd-alpha freebsd-amd64
7977 freebsd-armeb freebsd-arm freebsd-hppa freebsd-m32r
7978 freebsd-m68k freebsd-mips freebsd-mipsel freebsd-powerpc
7979 freebsd-ppc64 freebsd-s390 freebsd-s390x freebsd-sh3
7980 freebsd-sh3eb freebsd-sh4 freebsd-sh4eb freebsd-sparc
7981 kfreebsd-i386 kfreebsd-ia64 kfreebsd-alpha
7982 kfreebsd-amd64 kfreebsd-armeb kfreebsd-arm kfreebsd-hppa
7983 kfreebsd-m32r kfreebsd-m68k kfreebsd-mips
7984 kfreebsd-mipsel kfreebsd-powerpc kfreebsd-ppc64
7985 kfreebsd-s390 kfreebsd-s390x kfreebsd-sh3 kfreebsd-sh3eb
7986 kfreebsd-sh4 kfreebsd-sh4eb kfreebsd-sparc knetbsd-i386
7987 knetbsd-ia64 knetbsd-alpha knetbsd-amd64 knetbsd-armeb
7988 knetbsd-arm knetbsd-hppa knetbsd-m32r knetbsd-m68k
7989 knetbsd-mips knetbsd-mipsel knetbsd-powerpc
7990 knetbsd-ppc64 knetbsd-s390 knetbsd-s390x knetbsd-sh3
7991 knetbsd-sh3eb knetbsd-sh4 knetbsd-sh4eb knetbsd-sparc
7992 netbsd-i386 netbsd-ia64 netbsd-alpha netbsd-amd64
7993 netbsd-armeb netbsd-arm netbsd-hppa netbsd-m32r
7994 netbsd-m68k netbsd-mips netbsd-mipsel netbsd-powerpc
7995 netbsd-ppc64 netbsd-s390 netbsd-s390x netbsd-sh3
7996 netbsd-sh3eb netbsd-sh4 netbsd-sh4eb netbsd-sparc
7997 openbsd-i386 openbsd-ia64 openbsd-alpha openbsd-amd64
7998 openbsd-armeb openbsd-arm openbsd-hppa openbsd-m32r
7999 openbsd-m68k openbsd-mips openbsd-mipsel openbsd-powerpc
8000 openbsd-ppc64 openbsd-s390 openbsd-s390x openbsd-sh3
8001 openbsd-sh3eb openbsd-sh4 openbsd-sh4eb openbsd-sparc
8002 hurd-i386 hurd-ia64 hurd-alpha hurd-amd64 hurd-armeb
8003 hurd-arm hurd-hppa hurd-m32r hurd-m68k hurd-mips
8004 hurd-mipsel hurd-powerpc hurd-ppc64 hurd-s390 hurd-s390x
8005 hurd-sh3 hurd-sh3eb hurd-sh4 hurd-sh4eb hurd-sparc
8011 Note that we don't want to use
8012 <tt><var>arch</var>-debian-linux</tt> to apply to the rule
8013 <tt><var>architecture</var>-<var>vendor</var>-<var>os</var></tt>
8014 since this would make our programs incompatible with other
8015 Linux distributions. We also don't use something like
8016 <tt><var>arch</var>-unknown-linux</tt>, since the
8017 <tt>unknown</tt> does not look very good.
8020 <sect1 id="arch-wildcard-spec">
8021 <heading>Architecture wildcards</heading>
8024 A package may specify an architecture wildcard. Architecture
8025 wildcards are in the format <tt>any</tt> (which matches every
8026 architecture), <tt><var>os</var></tt>-any, or
8027 any-<tt><var>cpu</var></tt>. <footnote>
8028 Internally, the package system normalizes the GNU triplets
8029 and the Debian arches into Debian arch triplets (which are
8030 kind of inverted GNU triplets), with the first component of
8031 the triplet representing the libc and ABI in use, and then
8032 does matching against those triplets. However, such
8033 triplets are an internal implementation detail that should
8034 not be used by packages directly. The libc and ABI portion
8035 is handled internally by the package system based on
8036 the <var>os</var> and <var>cpu</var>.
8043 <heading>Daemons</heading>
8046 The configuration files <file>/etc/services</file>,
8047 <file>/etc/protocols</file>, and <file>/etc/rpc</file> are managed
8048 by the <prgn>netbase</prgn> package and must not be modified
8053 If a package requires a new entry in one of these files, the
8054 maintainer should get in contact with the
8055 <prgn>netbase</prgn> maintainer, who will add the entries
8056 and release a new version of the <prgn>netbase</prgn>
8061 The configuration file <file>/etc/inetd.conf</file> must not be
8062 modified by the package's scripts except via the
8063 <prgn>update-inetd</prgn> script or the
8064 <file>DebianNet.pm</file> Perl module. See their documentation
8065 for details on how to add entries.
8069 If a package wants to install an example entry into
8070 <file>/etc/inetd.conf</file>, the entry must be preceded with
8071 exactly one hash character (<tt>#</tt>). Such lines are
8072 treated as "commented out by user" by the
8073 <prgn>update-inetd</prgn> script and are not changed or
8074 activated during package updates.
8079 <heading>Using pseudo-ttys and modifying wtmp, utmp and
8083 Some programs need to create pseudo-ttys. This should be done
8084 using Unix98 ptys if the C library supports it. The resulting
8085 program must not be installed setuid root, unless that
8086 is required for other functionality.
8090 The files <file>/var/run/utmp</file>, <file>/var/log/wtmp</file> and
8091 <file>/var/log/lastlog</file> must be installed writable by
8092 group <tt>utmp</tt>. Programs which need to modify those
8093 files must be installed setgid <tt>utmp</tt>.
8098 <heading>Editors and pagers</heading>
8101 Some programs have the ability to launch an editor or pager
8102 program to edit or display a text document. Since there are
8103 lots of different editors and pagers available in the Debian
8104 distribution, the system administrator and each user should
8105 have the possibility to choose their preferred editor and
8110 In addition, every program should choose a good default
8111 editor/pager if none is selected by the user or system
8116 Thus, every program that launches an editor or pager must
8117 use the EDITOR or PAGER environment variable to determine
8118 the editor or pager the user wishes to use. If these
8119 variables are not set, the programs <file>/usr/bin/editor</file>
8120 and <file>/usr/bin/pager</file> should be used, respectively.
8124 These two files are managed through the <prgn>dpkg</prgn>
8125 "alternatives" mechanism. Thus every package providing an
8126 editor or pager must call the
8127 <prgn>update-alternatives</prgn> script to register these
8132 If it is very hard to adapt a program to make use of the
8133 EDITOR or PAGER variables, that program may be configured to
8134 use <file>/usr/bin/sensible-editor</file> and
8135 <file>/usr/bin/sensible-pager</file> as the editor or pager
8136 program respectively. These are two scripts provided in the
8137 <package>sensible-utils</package> package that check the EDITOR
8138 and PAGER variables and launch the appropriate program, and fall
8139 back to <file>/usr/bin/editor</file>
8140 and <file>/usr/bin/pager</file> if the variable is not set.
8144 A program may also use the VISUAL environment variable to
8145 determine the user's choice of editor. If it exists, it
8146 should take precedence over EDITOR. This is in fact what
8147 <file>/usr/bin/sensible-editor</file> does.
8151 It is not required for a package to depend on
8152 <tt>editor</tt> and <tt>pager</tt>, nor is it required for a
8153 package to provide such virtual packages.<footnote>
8154 The Debian base system already provides an editor and a
8160 <sect id="web-appl">
8161 <heading>Web servers and applications</heading>
8164 This section describes the locations and URLs that should
8165 be used by all web servers and web applications in the
8172 Cgi-bin executable files are installed in the
8174 <example compact="compact">
8175 /usr/lib/cgi-bin/<var>cgi-bin-name</var>
8177 and should be referred to as
8178 <example compact="compact">
8179 http://localhost/cgi-bin/<var>cgi-bin-name</var>
8185 <p>Access to HTML documents</p>
8188 HTML documents for a package are stored in
8189 <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var></file>
8190 and can be referred to as
8191 <example compact="compact">
8192 http://localhost/doc/<var>package</var>/<var>filename</var>
8197 The web server should restrict access to the document
8198 tree so that only clients on the same host can read
8199 the documents. If the web server does not support such
8200 access controls, then it should not provide access at
8201 all, or ask about providing access during installation.
8206 <p>Access to images</p>
8208 It is recommended that images for a package be stored
8209 in <tt>/usr/share/images/<var>package</var></tt> and
8210 may be referred to through an alias <tt>/images/</tt>
8213 http://localhost/images/<package>/<filename>
8220 <p>Web Document Root</p>
8223 Web Applications should try to avoid storing files in
8224 the Web Document Root. Instead they should use the
8225 /usr/share/doc/<var>package</var> directory for
8226 documents and register the Web Application via the
8227 <package>doc-base</package> package. If access to the
8228 web document root is unavoidable then use
8229 <example compact="compact">
8232 as the Document Root. This might be just a symbolic
8233 link to the location where the system administrator
8234 has put the real document root.
8237 <item><p>Providing httpd and/or httpd-cgi</p>
8239 All web servers should provide the virtual package
8240 <tt>httpd</tt>. If a web server has CGI support it should
8241 provide <tt>httpd-cgi</tt> additionally.
8244 All web applications which do not contain CGI scripts should
8245 depend on <tt>httpd</tt>, all those web applications which
8246 <tt>do</tt> contain CGI scripts, should depend on
8254 <sect id="mail-transport-agents">
8255 <heading>Mail transport, delivery and user agents</heading>
8258 Debian packages which process electronic mail, whether mail
8259 user agents (MUAs) or mail transport agents (MTAs), must
8260 ensure that they are compatible with the configuration
8261 decisions below. Failure to do this may result in lost
8262 mail, broken <tt>From:</tt> lines, and other serious brain
8267 The mail spool is <file>/var/mail</file> and the interface to
8268 send a mail message is <file>/usr/sbin/sendmail</file> (as per
8269 the FHS). On older systems, the mail spool may be
8270 physically located in <file>/var/spool/mail</file>, but all
8271 access to the mail spool should be via the
8272 <file>/var/mail</file> symlink. The mail spool is part of the
8273 base system and not part of the MTA package.
8277 All Debian MUAs, MTAs, MDAs and other mailbox accessing
8278 programs (such as IMAP daemons) must lock the mailbox in an
8279 NFS-safe way. This means that <tt>fcntl()</tt> locking must
8280 be combined with dot locking. To avoid deadlocks, a program
8281 should use <tt>fcntl()</tt> first and dot locking after
8282 this, or alternatively implement the two locking methods in
8283 a non blocking way<footnote>
8284 If it is not possible to establish both locks, the
8285 system shouldn't wait for the second lock to be
8286 established, but remove the first lock, wait a (random)
8287 time, and start over locking again.
8288 </footnote>. Using the functions <tt>maillock</tt> and
8289 <tt>mailunlock</tt> provided by the
8290 <tt>liblockfile*</tt><footnote>
8291 You will need to depend on <tt>liblockfile1 (>>1.01)</tt>
8292 to use these functions.
8293 </footnote> packages is the recommended way to realize this.
8297 Mailboxes are generally either mode 600 and owned by
8298 <var>user</var> or mode 660 and owned by
8299 <tt><var>user</var>:mail</tt><footnote>
8300 There are two traditional permission schemes for mail spools:
8301 mode 600 with all mail delivery done by processes running as
8302 the destination user, or mode 660 and owned by group mail with
8303 mail delivery done by a process running as a system user in
8304 group mail. Historically, Debian required mode 660 mail
8305 spools to enable the latter model, but that model has become
8306 increasingly uncommon and the principle of least privilege
8307 indicates that mail systems that use the first model should
8308 use permissions of 600. If delivery to programs is permitted,
8309 it's easier to keep the mail system secure if the delivery
8310 agent runs as the destination user. Debian Policy therefore
8311 permits either scheme.
8312 </footnote>. The local system administrator may choose a
8313 different permission scheme; packages should not make
8314 assumptions about the permission and ownership of mailboxes
8315 unless required (such as when creating a new mailbox). A MUA
8316 may remove a mailbox (unless it has nonstandard permissions) in
8317 which case the MTA or another MUA must recreate it if needed.
8321 The mail spool is 2775 <tt>root:mail</tt>, and MUAs should
8322 be setgid mail to do the locking mentioned above (and
8323 must obviously avoid accessing other users' mailboxes
8324 using this privilege).</p>
8327 <file>/etc/aliases</file> is the source file for the system mail
8328 aliases (e.g., postmaster, usenet, etc.), it is the one
8329 which the sysadmin and <prgn>postinst</prgn> scripts may
8330 edit. After <file>/etc/aliases</file> is edited the program or
8331 human editing it must call <prgn>newaliases</prgn>. All MTA
8332 packages must come with a <prgn>newaliases</prgn> program,
8333 even if it does nothing, but older MTA packages did not do
8334 this so programs should not fail if <prgn>newaliases</prgn>
8335 cannot be found. Note that because of this, all MTA
8336 packages must have <tt>Provides</tt>, <tt>Conflicts</tt> and
8337 <tt>Replaces: mail-transport-agent</tt> control file
8342 The convention of writing <tt>forward to
8343 <var>address</var></tt> in the mailbox itself is not
8344 supported. Use a <tt>.forward</tt> file instead.</p>
8347 The <prgn>rmail</prgn> program used by UUCP
8348 for incoming mail should be <file>/usr/sbin/rmail</file>.
8349 Likewise, <prgn>rsmtp</prgn>, for receiving
8350 batch-SMTP-over-UUCP, should be <file>/usr/sbin/rsmtp</file> if it
8354 If your package needs to know what hostname to use on (for
8355 example) outgoing news and mail messages which are generated
8356 locally, you should use the file <file>/etc/mailname</file>. It
8357 will contain the portion after the username and <tt>@</tt>
8358 (at) sign for email addresses of users on the machine
8359 (followed by a newline).
8363 Such a package should check for the existence of this file
8364 when it is being configured. If it exists, it should be
8365 used without comment, although an MTA's configuration script
8366 may wish to prompt the user even if it finds that this file
8367 exists. If the file does not exist, the package should
8368 prompt the user for the value (preferably using
8369 <prgn>debconf</prgn>) and store it in <file>/etc/mailname</file>
8370 as well as using it in the package's configuration. The
8371 prompt should make it clear that the name will not just be
8372 used by that package. For example, in this situation the
8373 <tt>inn</tt> package could say something like:
8374 <example compact="compact">
8375 Please enter the "mail name" of your system. This is the
8376 hostname portion of the address to be shown on outgoing
8377 news and mail messages. The default is
8378 <var>syshostname</var>, your system's host name. Mail
8379 name ["<var>syshostname</var>"]:
8381 where <var>syshostname</var> is the output of <tt>hostname
8387 <heading>News system configuration</heading>
8390 All the configuration files related to the NNTP (news)
8391 servers and clients should be located under
8392 <file>/etc/news</file>.</p>
8395 There are some configuration issues that apply to a number
8396 of news clients and server packages on the machine. These
8400 <tag><file>/etc/news/organization</file></tag>
8402 A string which should appear as the
8403 organization header for all messages posted
8404 by NNTP clients on the machine
8407 <tag><file>/etc/news/server</file></tag>
8409 Contains the FQDN of the upstream NNTP
8410 server, or localhost if the local machine is
8415 Other global files may be added as required for cross-package news
8422 <heading>Programs for the X Window System</heading>
8425 <heading>Providing X support and package priorities</heading>
8428 Programs that can be configured with support for the X
8429 Window System must be configured to do so and must declare
8430 any package dependencies necessary to satisfy their
8431 runtime requirements when using the X Window System. If
8432 such a package is of higher priority than the X packages
8433 on which it depends, it is required that either the
8434 X-specific components be split into a separate package, or
8435 that an alternative version of the package, which includes
8436 X support, be provided, or that the package's priority be
8442 <heading>Packages providing an X server</heading>
8445 Packages that provide an X server that, directly or
8446 indirectly, communicates with real input and display
8447 hardware should declare in their control data that they
8448 provide the virtual package <tt>xserver</tt>.<footnote>
8449 This implements current practice, and provides an
8450 actual policy for usage of the <tt>xserver</tt>
8451 virtual package which appears in the virtual packages
8452 list. In a nutshell, X servers that interface
8453 directly with the display and input hardware or via
8454 another subsystem (e.g., GGI) should provide
8455 <tt>xserver</tt>. Things like <tt>Xvfb</tt>,
8456 <tt>Xnest</tt>, and <tt>Xprt</tt> should not.
8462 <heading>Packages providing a terminal emulator</heading>
8465 Packages that provide a terminal emulator for the X Window
8466 System which meet the criteria listed below should declare
8467 in their control data that they provide the virtual
8468 package <tt>x-terminal-emulator</tt>. They should also
8469 register themselves as an alternative for
8470 <file>/usr/bin/x-terminal-emulator</file>, with a priority of
8475 To be an <tt>x-terminal-emulator</tt>, a program must:
8476 <list compact="compact">
8478 Be able to emulate a DEC VT100 terminal, or a
8479 compatible terminal.
8483 Support the command-line option <tt>-e
8484 <var>command</var></tt>, which creates a new
8485 terminal window<footnote>
8486 "New terminal window" does not necessarily mean
8487 a new top-level X window directly parented by
8488 the window manager; it could, if the terminal
8489 emulator application were so coded, be a new
8490 "view" in a multiple-document interface (MDI).
8492 and runs the specified <var>command</var>,
8493 interpreting the entirety of the rest of the command
8494 line as a command to pass straight to exec, in the
8495 manner that <tt>xterm</tt> does.
8499 Support the command-line option <tt>-T
8500 <var>title</var></tt>, which creates a new terminal
8501 window with the window title <var>title</var>.
8508 <heading>Packages providing a window manager</heading>
8511 Packages that provide a window manager should declare in
8512 their control data that they provide the virtual package
8513 <tt>x-window-manager</tt>. They should also register
8514 themselves as an alternative for
8515 <file>/usr/bin/x-window-manager</file>, with a priority
8516 calculated as follows:
8517 <list compact="compact">
8519 Start with a priority of 20.
8523 If the window manager supports the Debian menu
8524 system, add 20 points if this support is available
8525 in the package's default configuration (i.e., no
8526 configuration files belonging to the system or user
8527 have to be edited to activate the feature); if
8528 configuration files must be modified, add only 10
8534 If the window manager complies with <url
8535 id="http://www.freedesktop.org/Standards/wm-spec"
8536 name="The Window Manager Specification Project">,
8537 written by the <url id="http://www.freedesktop.org/"
8538 name="Free Desktop Group">, add 40 points.
8542 If the window manager permits the X session to be
8543 restarted using a <em>different</em> window manager
8544 (without killing the X server) in its default
8545 configuration, add 10 points; otherwise add none.
8552 <heading>Packages providing fonts</heading>
8555 Packages that provide fonts for the X Window
8557 For the purposes of Debian Policy, a "font for the X
8558 Window System" is one which is accessed via X protocol
8559 requests. Fonts for the Linux console, for PostScript
8560 renderer, or any other purpose, do not fit this
8561 definition. Any tool which makes such fonts available
8562 to the X Window System, however, must abide by this
8565 must do a number of things to ensure that they are both
8566 available without modification of the X or font server
8567 configuration, and that they do not corrupt files used by
8568 other font packages to register information about
8572 Fonts of any type supported by the X Window System
8573 must be in a separate binary package from any
8574 executables, libraries, or documentation (except
8575 that specific to the fonts shipped, such as their
8576 license information). If one or more of the fonts
8577 so packaged are necessary for proper operation of
8578 the package with which they are associated the font
8579 package may be Recommended; if the fonts merely
8580 provide an enhancement, a Suggests relationship may
8581 be used. Packages must not Depend on font
8583 This is because the X server may retrieve fonts
8584 from the local file system or over the network
8585 from an X font server; the Debian package system
8586 is empowered to deal only with the local
8592 BDF fonts must be converted to PCF fonts with the
8593 <prgn>bdftopcf</prgn> utility (available in the
8594 <tt>xfonts-utils</tt> package, <prgn>gzip</prgn>ped, and
8595 placed in a directory that corresponds to their
8597 <list compact="compact">
8599 100 dpi fonts must be placed in
8600 <file>/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/</file>.
8604 75 dpi fonts must be placed in
8605 <file>/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/</file>.
8609 Character-cell fonts, cursor fonts, and other
8610 low-resolution fonts must be placed in
8611 <file>/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc/</file>.
8617 Type 1 fonts must be placed in
8618 <file>/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1/</file>. If font
8619 metric files are available, they must be placed here
8624 Subdirectories of <file>/usr/share/fonts/X11/</file>
8625 other than those listed above must be neither
8626 created nor used. (The <file>PEX</file>, <file>CID</file>,
8627 <file>Speedo</file>, and <file>cyrillic</file> directories
8628 are excepted for historical reasons, but installation of
8629 files into these directories remains discouraged.)
8633 Font packages may, instead of placing files directly
8634 in the X font directories listed above, provide
8635 symbolic links in that font directory pointing to
8636 the files' actual location in the filesystem. Such
8637 a location must comply with the FHS.
8641 Font packages should not contain both 75dpi and
8642 100dpi versions of a font. If both are available,
8643 they should be provided in separate binary packages
8644 with <tt>-75dpi</tt> or <tt>-100dpi</tt> appended to
8645 the names of the packages containing the
8646 corresponding fonts.
8650 Fonts destined for the <file>misc</file> subdirectory
8651 should not be included in the same package as 75dpi
8652 or 100dpi fonts; instead, they should be provided in
8653 a separate package with <tt>-misc</tt> appended to
8658 Font packages must not provide the files
8659 <file>fonts.dir</file>, <file>fonts.alias</file>, or
8660 <file>fonts.scale</file> in a font directory:
8663 <file>fonts.dir</file> files must not be provided at all.
8667 <file>fonts.alias</file> and <file>fonts.scale</file>
8668 files, if needed, should be provided in the
8670 <file>/etc/X11/fonts/<var>fontdir</var>/<var>package</var>.<var>extension</var></file>,
8671 where <var>fontdir</var> is the name of the
8673 <file>/usr/share/fonts/X11/</file> where the
8674 package's corresponding fonts are stored
8675 (e.g., <tt>75dpi</tt> or <tt>misc</tt>),
8676 <var>package</var> is the name of the package
8677 that provides these fonts, and
8678 <var>extension</var> is either <tt>scale</tt>
8679 or <tt>alias</tt>, whichever corresponds to
8686 Font packages must declare a dependency on
8687 <tt>xfonts-utils</tt> in their control
8692 Font packages that provide one or more
8693 <file>fonts.scale</file> files as described above must
8694 invoke <prgn>update-fonts-scale</prgn> on each
8695 directory into which they installed fonts
8696 <em>before</em> invoking
8697 <prgn>update-fonts-dir</prgn> on that directory.
8698 This invocation must occur in both the
8699 <prgn>postinst</prgn> (for all arguments) and
8700 <prgn>postrm</prgn> (for all arguments except
8701 <tt>upgrade</tt>) scripts.
8705 Font packages that provide one or more
8706 <file>fonts.alias</file> files as described above must
8707 invoke <prgn>update-fonts-alias</prgn> on each
8708 directory into which they installed fonts. This
8709 invocation must occur in both the
8710 <prgn>postinst</prgn> (for all arguments) and
8711 <prgn>postrm</prgn> (for all arguments except
8712 <tt>upgrade</tt>) scripts.
8716 Font packages must invoke
8717 <prgn>update-fonts-dir</prgn> on each directory into
8718 which they installed fonts. This invocation must
8719 occur in both the <prgn>postinst</prgn> (for all
8720 arguments) and <prgn>postrm</prgn> (for all
8721 arguments except <tt>upgrade</tt>) scripts.
8725 Font packages must not provide alias names for the
8726 fonts they include which collide with alias names
8727 already in use by fonts already packaged.
8731 Font packages must not provide fonts with the same
8732 XLFD registry name as another font already packaged.
8738 <sect1 id="appdefaults">
8739 <heading>Application defaults files</heading>
8742 Application defaults files must be installed in the
8743 directory <file>/etc/X11/app-defaults/</file> (use of a
8744 localized subdirectory of <file>/etc/X11/</file> as described
8745 in the <em>X Toolkit Intrinsics - C Language
8746 Interface</em> manual is also permitted). They must be
8747 registered as <tt>conffile</tt>s or handled as
8748 configuration files.
8752 Customization of programs' X resources may also be
8753 supported with the provision of a file with the same name
8754 as that of the package placed in
8755 the <file>/etc/X11/Xresources/</file> directory, which
8756 must be registered as a <tt>conffile</tt> or handled as a
8757 configuration file.<footnote>
8758 Note that this mechanism is not the same as using
8759 app-defaults; app-defaults are tied to the client
8760 binary on the local file system, whereas X resources
8761 are stored in the X server and affect all connecting
8768 <heading>Installation directory issues</heading>
8771 Historically, packages using the X Window System used a
8772 separate set of installation directories from other packages.
8773 This practice has been discontinued and packages using the X
8774 Window System should now generally be installed in the same
8775 directories as any other package. Specifically, packages must
8776 not install files under the <file>/usr/X11R6/</file> directory
8777 and the <file>/usr/X11R6/</file> directory hierarchy should be
8778 regarded as obsolete.
8782 Include files previously installed under
8783 <file>/usr/X11R6/include/X11/</file> should be installed into
8784 <file>/usr/include/X11/</file>. For files previously
8785 installed into subdirectories of
8786 <file>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/</file>, package maintainers should
8787 determine if subdirectories of <file>/usr/lib/</file> and
8788 <file>/usr/share/</file> can be used. If not, a subdirectory
8789 of <file>/usr/lib/X11/</file> should be used.
8793 Configuration files for window, display, or session managers
8794 or other applications that are tightly integrated with the X
8795 Window System may be placed in a subdirectory
8796 of <file>/etc/X11/</file> corresponding to the package name.
8797 Other X Window System applications should use
8798 the <file>/etc/</file> directory unless otherwise mandated by
8799 policy (such as for <ref id="appdefaults">).
8804 <heading>The OSF/Motif and OpenMotif libraries</heading>
8807 <em>Programs that require the non-DFSG-compliant OSF/Motif or
8808 OpenMotif libraries</em><footnote>
8809 OSF/Motif and OpenMotif are collectively referred to as
8810 "Motif" in this policy document.
8812 should be compiled against and tested with LessTif (a free
8813 re-implementation of Motif) instead. If the maintainer
8814 judges that the program or programs do not work
8815 sufficiently well with LessTif to be distributed and
8816 supported, but do so when compiled against Motif, then two
8817 versions of the package should be created; one linked
8818 statically against Motif and with <tt>-smotif</tt>
8819 appended to the package name, and one linked dynamically
8820 against Motif and with <tt>-dmotif</tt> appended to the
8825 Both Motif-linked versions are dependent
8826 upon non-DFSG-compliant software and thus cannot be
8827 uploaded to the <em>main</em> distribution; if the
8828 software is itself DFSG-compliant it may be uploaded to
8829 the <em>contrib</em> distribution. While known existing
8830 versions of Motif permit unlimited redistribution of
8831 binaries linked against the library (whether statically or
8832 dynamically), it is the package maintainer's
8833 responsibility to determine whether this is permitted by
8834 the license of the copy of Motif in their possession.
8840 <heading>Perl programs and modules</heading>
8843 Perl programs and modules should follow the current Perl policy.
8847 The Perl policy can be found in the <tt>perl-policy</tt>
8848 files in the <tt>debian-policy</tt> package.
8849 It is also available from the Debian web mirrors at
8850 <tt><url name="/doc/packaging-manuals/perl-policy/"
8851 id="http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/perl-policy/"></tt>.
8856 <heading>Emacs lisp programs</heading>
8859 Please refer to the "Debian Emacs Policy" for details of how to
8860 package emacs lisp programs.
8864 The Emacs policy is available in
8865 <file>debian-emacs-policy.gz</file> of the
8866 <package>emacsen-common</package> package.
8867 It is also available from the Debian web mirrors at
8868 <tt><url name="/doc/packaging-manuals/debian-emacs-policy"
8869 id="http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/debian-emacs-policy"></tt>.
8874 <heading>Games</heading>
8877 The permissions on <file>/var/games</file> are mode 755, owner
8878 <tt>root</tt> and group <tt>root</tt>.
8882 Each game decides on its own security policy.</p>
8885 Games which require protected, privileged access to
8886 high-score files, saved games, etc., may be made
8887 set-<em>group</em>-id (mode 2755) and owned by
8888 <tt>root:games</tt>, and use files and directories with
8889 appropriate permissions (770 <tt>root:games</tt>, for
8890 example). They must not be made
8891 set-<em>user</em>-id, as this causes security problems. (If
8892 an attacker can subvert any set-user-id game they can
8893 overwrite the executable of any other, causing other players
8894 of these games to run a Trojan horse program. With a
8895 set-group-id game the attacker only gets access to less
8896 important game data, and if they can get at the other
8897 players' accounts at all it will take considerably more
8901 Some packages, for example some fortune cookie programs, are
8902 configured by the upstream authors to install with their
8903 data files or other static information made unreadable so
8904 that they can only be accessed through set-id programs
8905 provided. You should not do this in a Debian package: anyone can
8906 download the <file>.deb</file> file and read the data from it,
8907 so there is no point making the files unreadable. Not
8908 making the files unreadable also means that you don't have
8909 to make so many programs set-id, which reduces the risk of a
8913 As described in the FHS, binaries of games should be
8914 installed in the directory <file>/usr/games</file>. This also
8915 applies to games that use the X Window System. Manual pages
8916 for games (X and non-X games) should be installed in
8917 <file>/usr/share/man/man6</file>.</p>
8923 <heading>Documentation</heading>
8926 <heading>Manual pages</heading>
8929 You should install manual pages in <prgn>nroff</prgn> source
8930 form, in appropriate places under <file>/usr/share/man</file>.
8931 You should only use sections 1 to 9 (see the FHS for more
8932 details). You must not install a pre-formatted "cat page".
8936 Each program, utility, and function should have an
8937 associated manual page included in the same package. It is
8938 suggested that all configuration files also have a manual
8939 page included as well. Manual pages for protocols and other
8940 auxiliary things are optional.
8944 If no manual page is available, this is considered as a bug
8945 and should be reported to the Debian Bug Tracking System (the
8946 maintainer of the package is allowed to write this bug report
8947 themselves, if they so desire). Do not close the bug report
8948 until a proper man page is available.<footnote>
8949 It is not very hard to write a man page. See the
8950 <url id="http://www.schweikhardt.net/man_page_howto.html"
8951 name="Man-Page-HOWTO">,
8952 <manref name="man" section="7">, the examples
8953 created by <prgn>debmake</prgn> or <prgn>dh_make</prgn>,
8954 the helper programs <prgn>help2man</prgn>, or the
8955 directory <file>/usr/share/doc/man-db/examples</file>.
8960 You may forward a complaint about a missing man page to the
8961 upstream authors, and mark the bug as forwarded in the
8962 Debian bug tracking system. Even though the GNU Project do
8963 not in general consider the lack of a man page to be a bug,
8964 we do; if they tell you that they don't consider it a bug
8965 you should leave the bug in our bug tracking system open
8970 Manual pages should be installed compressed using <tt>gzip -9</tt>.
8974 If one man page needs to be accessible via several names it
8975 is better to use a symbolic link than the <file>.so</file>
8976 feature, but there is no need to fiddle with the relevant
8977 parts of the upstream source to change from <file>.so</file> to
8978 symlinks: don't do it unless it's easy. You should not
8979 create hard links in the manual page directories, nor put
8980 absolute filenames in <file>.so</file> directives. The filename
8981 in a <file>.so</file> in a man page should be relative to the
8982 base of the man page tree (usually
8983 <file>/usr/share/man</file>). If you do not create any links
8984 (whether symlinks, hard links, or <tt>.so</tt> directives)
8985 in the file system to the alternate names of the man page,
8986 then you should not rely on <prgn>man</prgn> finding your
8987 man page under those names based solely on the information in
8988 the man page's header.<footnote>
8989 Supporting this in <prgn>man</prgn> often requires
8990 unreasonable processing time to find a manual page or to
8991 report that none exists, and moves knowledge into man's
8992 database that would be better left in the file system.
8993 This support is therefore deprecated and will cease to
8994 be present in the future.
8999 Manual pages in locale-specific subdirectories of
9000 <file>/usr/share/man</file> should use either UTF-8 or the usual
9001 legacy encoding for that language (normally the one corresponding
9002 to the shortest relevant locale name in
9003 <file>/usr/share/i18n/SUPPORTED</file>). For example, pages under
9004 <file>/usr/share/man/fr</file> should use either UTF-8 or
9005 ISO-8859-1.<footnote>
9006 <prgn>man</prgn> will automatically detect whether UTF-8 is in
9007 use. In future, all manual pages will be required to use
9013 A country name (the <tt>DE</tt> in <tt>de_DE</tt>) should not be
9014 included in the subdirectory name unless it indicates a
9015 significant difference in the language, as this excludes
9016 speakers of the language in other countries.<footnote>
9017 At the time of writing, Chinese and Portuguese are the main
9018 languages with such differences, so <file>pt_BR</file>,
9019 <file>zh_CN</file>, and <file>zh_TW</file> are all allowed.
9024 If a localized version of a manual page is provided, it should
9025 either be up-to-date or it should be obvious to the reader that
9026 it is outdated and the original manual page should be used
9027 instead. This can be done either by a note at the beginning of
9028 the manual page or by showing the missing or changed portions in
9029 the original language instead of the target language.
9034 <heading>Info documents</heading>
9037 Info documents should be installed in <file>/usr/share/info</file>.
9038 They should be compressed with <tt>gzip -9</tt>.
9042 The <prgn>install-info</prgn> program maintains a directory of
9043 installed info documents in <file>/usr/share/info/dir</file> for
9044 the use of info readers.<footnote>
9045 It was previously necessary for packages installing info
9046 documents to run <prgn>install-info</prgn> from maintainer
9047 scripts. This is no longer necessary. The installation
9048 system now uses dpkg triggers.
9050 This file must not be included in packages. Packages containing
9051 info documents should depend on <tt>dpkg (>= 1.15.4) |
9052 install-info</tt> to ensure that the directory file is properly
9053 rebuilt during partial upgrades from Debian 5.0 (lenny) and
9058 Info documents should contain section and directory entry
9059 information in the document for the use
9060 of <prgn>install-info</prgn>. The section should be specified
9061 via a line starting with <tt>INFO-DIR-SECTION</tt> followed by a
9062 space and the section of this info page. The directory entry or
9063 entries should be included between
9064 a <tt>START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY</tt> line and
9065 an <tt>END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY</tt> line. For example:
9067 INFO-DIR-SECTION Individual utilities
9068 START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
9069 * example: (example). An example info directory entry.
9072 To determine which section to use, you should look
9073 at <file>/usr/share/info/dir</file> on your system and choose
9074 the most relevant (or create a new section if none of the
9075 current sections are relevant).<footnote>
9076 Normally, info documents are generated from Texinfo source.
9077 To include this information in the generated info document, if
9078 it is absent, add commands like:
9080 @dircategory Individual utilities
9082 * example: (example). An example info directory entry.
9085 to the Texinfo source of the document and ensure that the info
9086 documents are rebuilt from source during the package build.
9092 <heading>Additional documentation</heading>
9095 Any additional documentation that comes with the package may
9096 be installed at the discretion of the package maintainer.
9097 Plain text documentation should be installed in the directory
9098 <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var></file>, where
9099 <var>package</var> is the name of the package, and
9100 compressed with <tt>gzip -9</tt> unless it is small.
9104 If a package comes with large amounts of documentation which
9105 many users of the package will not require you should create
9106 a separate binary package to contain it, so that it does not
9107 take up disk space on the machines of users who do not need
9108 or want it installed.</p>
9111 It is often a good idea to put text information files
9112 (<file>README</file>s, changelogs, and so forth) that come with
9113 the source package in <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var></file>
9114 in the binary package. However, you don't need to install
9115 the instructions for building and installing the package, of
9119 Packages must not require the existence of any files in
9120 <file>/usr/share/doc/</file> in order to function
9122 The system administrator should be able to
9123 delete files in <file>/usr/share/doc/</file> without causing
9124 any programs to break.
9126 Any files that are referenced by programs but are also
9127 useful as stand alone documentation should be installed under
9128 <file>/usr/share/<var>package</var>/</file> with symbolic links from
9129 <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var></file>.
9133 <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var></file> may be a symbolic
9134 link to another directory in <file>/usr/share/doc</file> only if
9135 the two packages both come from the same source and the
9136 first package Depends on the second.<footnote>
9138 Please note that this does not override the section on
9139 changelog files below, so the file
9140 <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/changelog.Debian.gz</file>
9141 must refer to the changelog for the current version of
9142 <var>package</var> in question. In practice, this means
9143 that the sources of the target and the destination of the
9144 symlink must be the same (same source package and
9151 Former Debian releases placed all additional documentation
9152 in <file>/usr/doc/<var>package</var></file>. This has been
9153 changed to <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var></file>,
9154 and packages must not put documentation in the directory
9155 <file>/usr/doc/<var>package</var></file>. <footnote>
9156 At this phase of the transition, we no longer require a
9157 symbolic link in <file>/usr/doc/</file>. At a later point,
9158 policy shall change to make the symbolic links a bug.
9164 <heading>Preferred documentation formats</heading>
9167 The unification of Debian documentation is being carried out
9171 If your package comes with extensive documentation in a
9172 markup format that can be converted to various other formats
9173 you should if possible ship HTML versions in a binary
9174 package, in the directory
9175 <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>appropriate-package</var></file> or
9176 its subdirectories.<footnote>
9177 The rationale: The important thing here is that HTML
9178 docs should be available in <em>some</em> package, not
9179 necessarily in the main binary package.
9184 Other formats such as PostScript may be provided at the
9185 package maintainer's discretion.
9189 <sect id="copyrightfile">
9190 <heading>Copyright information</heading>
9193 Every package must be accompanied by a verbatim copy of its
9194 copyright information and distribution license in the file
9195 <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/copyright</file>. This
9196 file must neither be compressed nor be a symbolic link.
9200 In addition, the copyright file must say where the upstream
9201 sources (if any) were obtained. It should name the original
9202 authors of the package and the Debian maintainer(s) who were
9203 involved with its creation.
9207 Packages in the <em>contrib</em> or <em>non-free</em> archive
9208 areas should state in the copyright file that the package is not
9209 part of the Debian GNU/Linux distribution and briefly explain
9214 A copy of the file which will be installed in
9215 <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/copyright</file> should
9216 be in <file>debian/copyright</file> in the source package.
9220 <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var></file> may be a symbolic
9221 link to another directory in <file>/usr/share/doc</file> only if
9222 the two packages both come from the same source and the
9223 first package Depends on the second. These rules are
9224 important because copyrights must be extractable by
9229 Packages distributed under the UCB BSD license, the Apache
9230 license (version 2.0), the Artistic license, the GNU GPL
9231 (version 2 or 3), the GNU LGPL (versions 2, 2.1, or 3), and the
9232 GNU FDL (versions 1.2 or 1.3) should refer to the corresponding
9233 files under <file>/usr/share/common-licenses</file>,<footnote>
9236 <file>/usr/share/common-licenses/BSD</file>,
9237 <file>/usr/share/common-licenses/Apache-2.0</file>,
9238 <file>/usr/share/common-licenses/Artistic</file>,
9239 <file>/usr/share/common-licenses/GPL-2</file>,
9240 <file>/usr/share/common-licenses/GPL-3</file>,
9241 <file>/usr/share/common-licenses/LGPL-2</file>,
9242 <file>/usr/share/common-licenses/LGPL-2.1</file>,
9243 <file>/usr/share/common-licenses/LGPL-3</file>,
9244 <file>/usr/share/common-licenses/GFDL-1.2</file>, and
9245 <file>/usr/share/common-licenses/GFDL-1.3</file>
9248 </footnote> rather than quoting them in the copyright
9253 You should not use the copyright file as a general <file>README</file>
9254 file. If your package has such a file it should be
9255 installed in <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/README</file> or
9256 <file>README.Debian</file> or some other appropriate place.</p>
9260 <heading>Examples</heading>
9263 Any examples (configurations, source files, whatever),
9264 should be installed in a directory
9265 <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/examples</file>. These
9266 files should not be referenced by any program: they're there
9267 for the benefit of the system administrator and users as
9268 documentation only. Architecture-specific example files
9269 should be installed in a directory
9270 <file>/usr/lib/<var>package</var>/examples</file> with symbolic
9272 <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/examples</file>, or the
9273 latter directory itself may be a symbolic link to the
9278 If the purpose of a package is to provide examples, then the
9279 example files may be installed into
9280 <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var></file>.
9284 <sect id="changelogs">
9285 <heading>Changelog files</heading>
9288 Packages that are not Debian-native must contain a
9289 compressed copy of the <file>debian/changelog</file> file from
9290 the Debian source tree in
9291 <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var></file> with the name
9292 <file>changelog.Debian.gz</file>.
9296 If an upstream changelog is available, it should be accessible as
9297 <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/changelog.gz</file> in
9298 plain text. If the upstream changelog is distributed in
9299 HTML, it should be made available in that form as
9300 <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/changelog.html.gz</file>
9301 and a plain text <file>changelog.gz</file> should be generated
9302 from it using, for example, <tt>lynx -dump -nolist</tt>. If
9303 the upstream changelog files do not already conform to this
9304 naming convention, then this may be achieved either by
9305 renaming the files, or by adding a symbolic link, at the
9306 maintainer's discretion.<footnote>
9307 Rationale: People should not have to look in places for
9308 upstream changelogs merely because they are given
9309 different names or are distributed in HTML format.
9314 All of these files should be installed compressed using
9315 <tt>gzip -9</tt>, as they will become large with time even
9316 if they start out small.
9320 If the package has only one changelog which is used both as
9321 the Debian changelog and the upstream one because there is
9322 no separate upstream maintainer then that changelog should
9323 usually be installed as
9324 <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/changelog.gz</file>; if
9325 there is a separate upstream maintainer, but no upstream
9326 changelog, then the Debian changelog should still be called
9327 <file>changelog.Debian.gz</file>.
9331 For details about the format and contents of the Debian
9332 changelog file, please see <ref id="dpkgchangelog">.
9337 <appendix id="pkg-scope">
9338 <heading>Introduction and scope of these appendices</heading>
9341 These appendices are taken essentially verbatim from the
9342 now-deprecated Packaging Manual, version 3.2.1.0. They are
9343 the chapters which are likely to be of use to package
9344 maintainers and which have not already been included in the
9345 policy document itself. Most of these sections are very likely
9346 not relevant to policy; they should be treated as
9347 documentation for the packaging system. Please note that these
9348 appendices are included for convenience, and for historical
9349 reasons: they used to be part of policy package, and they have
9350 not yet been incorporated into dpkg documentation. However,
9351 they still have value, and hence they are presented here.
9355 They have not yet been checked to ensure that they are
9356 compatible with the contents of policy, and if there are any
9357 contradictions, the version in the main policy document takes
9358 precedence. The remaining chapters of the old Packaging
9359 Manual have also not been read in detail to ensure that there
9360 are not parts which have been left out. Both of these will be
9365 Certain parts of the Packaging manual were integrated into the
9366 Policy Manual proper, and removed from the appendices. Links
9367 have been placed from the old locations to the new ones.
9371 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> is a suite of programs for creating binary
9372 package files and installing and removing them on Unix
9374 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> is targeted primarily at Debian
9375 GNU/Linux, but may work on or be ported to other
9381 The binary packages are designed for the management of
9382 installed executable programs (usually compiled binaries) and
9383 their associated data, though source code examples and
9384 documentation are provided as part of some packages.</p>
9387 This manual describes the technical aspects of creating Debian
9388 binary packages (<file>.deb</file> files). It documents the
9389 behavior of the package management programs
9390 <prgn>dpkg</prgn>, <prgn>dselect</prgn> et al. and the way
9391 they interact with packages.</p>
9394 It also documents the interaction between
9395 <prgn>dselect</prgn>'s core and the access method scripts it
9396 uses to actually install the selected packages, and describes
9397 how to create a new access method.</p>
9400 This manual does not go into detail about the options and
9401 usage of the package building and installation tools. It
9402 should therefore be read in conjunction with those programs'
9407 The utility programs which are provided with <prgn>dpkg</prgn>
9408 for managing various system configuration and similar issues,
9409 such as <prgn>update-rc.d</prgn> and
9410 <prgn>install-info</prgn>, are not described in detail here -
9411 please see their man pages.
9415 It is assumed that the reader is reasonably familiar with the
9416 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> System Administrators' manual.
9417 Unfortunately this manual does not yet exist.
9421 The Debian version of the FSF's GNU hello program is provided
9422 as an example for people wishing to create Debian
9423 packages. The Debian <prgn>debmake</prgn> package is
9424 recommended as a very helpful tool in creating and maintaining
9425 Debian packages. However, while the tools and examples are
9426 helpful, they do not replace the need to read and follow the
9427 Policy and Programmer's Manual.</p>
9430 <appendix id="pkg-binarypkg">
9431 <heading>Binary packages (from old Packaging Manual)</heading>
9434 The binary package has two main sections. The first part
9435 consists of various control information files and scripts used
9436 by <prgn>dpkg</prgn> when installing and removing. See <ref
9437 id="pkg-controlarea">.
9441 The second part is an archive containing the files and
9442 directories to be installed.
9446 In the future binary packages may also contain other
9447 components, such as checksums and digital signatures. The
9448 format for the archive is described in full in the
9449 <file>deb(5)</file> man page.
9453 <sect id="pkg-bincreating"><heading>Creating package files -
9454 <prgn>dpkg-deb</prgn>
9458 All manipulation of binary package files is done by
9459 <prgn>dpkg-deb</prgn>; it's the only program that has
9460 knowledge of the format. (<prgn>dpkg-deb</prgn> may be
9461 invoked by calling <prgn>dpkg</prgn>, as <prgn>dpkg</prgn>
9462 will spot that the options requested are appropriate to
9463 <prgn>dpkg-deb</prgn> and invoke that instead with the same
9468 In order to create a binary package you must make a
9469 directory tree which contains all the files and directories
9470 you want to have in the file system data part of the package.
9471 In Debian-format source packages this directory is usually
9472 <file>debian/tmp</file>, relative to the top of the package's
9477 They should have the locations (relative to the root of the
9478 directory tree you're constructing) ownerships and
9479 permissions which you want them to have on the system when
9484 With current versions of <prgn>dpkg</prgn> the uid/username
9485 and gid/groupname mappings for the users and groups being
9486 used should be the same on the system where the package is
9487 built and the one where it is installed.
9491 You need to add one special directory to the root of the
9492 miniature file system tree you're creating:
9493 <prgn>DEBIAN</prgn>. It should contain the control
9494 information files, notably the binary package control file
9495 (see <ref id="pkg-controlfile">).
9499 The <prgn>DEBIAN</prgn> directory will not appear in the
9500 file system archive of the package, and so won't be installed
9501 by <prgn>dpkg</prgn> when the package is installed.
9505 When you've prepared the package, you should invoke:
9507 dpkg --build <var>directory</var>
9512 This will build the package in
9513 <file><var>directory</var>.deb</file>. (<prgn>dpkg</prgn> knows
9514 that <tt>--build</tt> is a <prgn>dpkg-deb</prgn> option, so
9515 it invokes <prgn>dpkg-deb</prgn> with the same arguments to
9520 See the man page <manref name="dpkg-deb" section="8"> for details of how
9521 to examine the contents of this newly-created file. You may find the
9522 output of following commands enlightening:
9524 dpkg-deb --info <var>filename</var>.deb
9525 dpkg-deb --contents <var>filename</var>.deb
9526 dpkg --contents <var>filename</var>.deb
9528 To view the copyright file for a package you could use this command:
9530 dpkg --fsys-tarfile <var>filename</var>.deb | tar xOf - --wildcards \*/copyright | pager
9535 <sect id="pkg-controlarea">
9536 <heading>Package control information files</heading>
9539 The control information portion of a binary package is a
9540 collection of files with names known to <prgn>dpkg</prgn>.
9541 It will treat the contents of these files specially - some
9542 of them contain information used by <prgn>dpkg</prgn> when
9543 installing or removing the package; others are scripts which
9544 the package maintainer wants <prgn>dpkg</prgn> to run.
9548 It is possible to put other files in the package control
9549 area, but this is not generally a good idea (though they
9550 will largely be ignored).
9554 Here is a brief list of the control info files supported by
9555 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> and a summary of what they're used for.
9560 <tag><tt>control</tt>
9563 This is the key description file used by
9564 <prgn>dpkg</prgn>. It specifies the package's name
9565 and version, gives its description for the user,
9566 states its relationships with other packages, and so
9567 forth. See <ref id="sourcecontrolfiles"> and
9568 <ref id="binarycontrolfiles">.
9572 It is usually generated automatically from information
9573 in the source package by the
9574 <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> program, and with
9575 assistance from <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn>.
9576 See <ref id="pkg-sourcetools">.
9580 <tag><tt>postinst</tt>, <tt>preinst</tt>, <tt>postrm</tt>,
9585 These are executable files (usually scripts) which
9586 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> runs during installation, upgrade
9587 and removal of packages. They allow the package to
9588 deal with matters which are particular to that package
9589 or require more complicated processing than that
9590 provided by <prgn>dpkg</prgn>. Details of when and
9591 how they are called are in <ref id="maintainerscripts">.
9595 It is very important to make these scripts idempotent.
9596 See <ref id="idempotency">.
9600 The maintainer scripts are guaranteed to run with a
9601 controlling terminal and can interact with the user.
9602 See <ref id="controllingterminal">.
9606 <tag><tt>conffiles</tt>
9609 This file contains a list of configuration files which
9610 are to be handled automatically by <prgn>dpkg</prgn>
9611 (see <ref id="pkg-conffiles">). Note that not necessarily
9612 every configuration file should be listed here.
9615 <tag><tt>shlibs</tt>
9618 This file contains a list of the shared libraries
9619 supplied by the package, with dependency details for
9620 each. This is used by <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn>
9621 when it determines what dependencies are required in a
9622 package control file. The <tt>shlibs</tt> file format
9623 is described on <ref id="shlibs">.
9628 <sect id="pkg-controlfile">
9629 <heading>The main control information file: <tt>control</tt></heading>
9632 The most important control information file used by
9633 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> when it installs a package is
9634 <tt>control</tt>. It contains all the package's "vital
9639 The binary package control files of packages built from
9640 Debian sources are made by a special tool,
9641 <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn>, which reads
9642 <file>debian/control</file> and <file>debian/changelog</file> to
9643 find the information it needs. See <ref id="pkg-sourcepkg"> for
9648 The fields in binary package control files are listed in
9649 <ref id="binarycontrolfiles">.
9653 A description of the syntax of control files and the purpose
9654 of the fields is available in <ref id="controlfields">.
9659 <heading>Time Stamps</heading>
9662 See <ref id="timestamps">.
9667 <appendix id="pkg-sourcepkg">
9668 <heading>Source packages (from old Packaging Manual) </heading>
9671 The Debian binary packages in the distribution are generated
9672 from Debian sources, which are in a special format to assist
9673 the easy and automatic building of binaries.
9676 <sect id="pkg-sourcetools">
9677 <heading>Tools for processing source packages</heading>
9680 Various tools are provided for manipulating source packages;
9681 they pack and unpack sources and help build of binary
9682 packages and help manage the distribution of new versions.
9686 They are introduced and typical uses described here; see
9687 <manref name="dpkg-source" section="1"> for full
9688 documentation about their arguments and operation.
9692 For examples of how to construct a Debian source package,
9693 and how to use those utilities that are used by Debian
9694 source packages, please see the <prgn>hello</prgn> example
9698 <sect1 id="pkg-dpkg-source">
9700 <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> - packs and unpacks Debian source
9705 This program is frequently used by hand, and is also
9706 called from package-independent automated building scripts
9707 such as <prgn>dpkg-buildpackage</prgn>.
9711 To unpack a package it is typically invoked with
9713 dpkg-source -x <var>.../path/to/filename</var>.dsc
9718 with the <file><var>filename</var>.tar.gz</file> and
9719 <file><var>filename</var>.diff.gz</file> (if applicable) in
9720 the same directory. It unpacks into
9721 <file><var>package</var>-<var>version</var></file>, and if
9723 <file><var>package</var>-<var>version</var>.orig</file>, in
9724 the current directory.
9728 To create a packed source archive it is typically invoked:
9730 dpkg-source -b <var>package</var>-<var>version</var>
9735 This will create the <file>.dsc</file>, <file>.tar.gz</file> and
9736 <file>.diff.gz</file> (if appropriate) in the current
9737 directory. <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> does not clean the
9738 source tree first - this must be done separately if it is
9743 See also <ref id="pkg-sourcearchives">.</p>
9747 <sect1 id="pkg-dpkg-buildpackage">
9749 <prgn>dpkg-buildpackage</prgn> - overall package-building
9754 <prgn>dpkg-buildpackage</prgn> is a script which invokes
9755 <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn>, the <file>debian/rules</file>
9756 targets <tt>clean</tt>, <tt>build</tt> and
9757 <tt>binary</tt>, <prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn> and
9758 <prgn>gpg</prgn> (or <prgn>pgp</prgn>) to build a signed
9759 source and binary package upload.
9763 It is usually invoked by hand from the top level of the
9764 built or unbuilt source directory. It may be invoked with
9765 no arguments; useful arguments include:
9766 <taglist compact="compact">
9767 <tag><tt>-uc</tt>, <tt>-us</tt></tag>
9770 Do not sign the <tt>.changes</tt> file or the
9771 source package <tt>.dsc</tt> file, respectively.</p>
9773 <tag><tt>-p<var>sign-command</var></tt></tag>
9776 Invoke <var>sign-command</var> instead of finding
9777 <tt>gpg</tt> or <tt>pgp</tt> on the <prgn>PATH</prgn>.
9778 <var>sign-command</var> must behave just like
9779 <prgn>gpg</prgn> or <tt>pgp</tt>.</p>
9781 <tag><tt>-r<var>root-command</var></tt></tag>
9784 When root privilege is required, invoke the command
9785 <var>root-command</var>. <var>root-command</var>
9786 should invoke its first argument as a command, from
9787 the <prgn>PATH</prgn> if necessary, and pass its
9788 second and subsequent arguments to the command it
9789 calls. If no <var>root-command</var> is supplied
9790 then <var>dpkg-buildpackage</var> will take no
9791 special action to gain root privilege, so that for
9792 most packages it will have to be invoked as root to
9795 <tag><tt>-b</tt>, <tt>-B</tt></tag>
9798 Two types of binary-only build and upload - see
9799 <manref name="dpkg-source" section="1">.
9806 <sect1 id="pkg-dpkg-gencontrol">
9808 <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> - generates binary package
9813 This program is usually called from <file>debian/rules</file>
9814 (see <ref id="pkg-sourcetree">) in the top level of the source
9819 This is usually done just before the files and directories in the
9820 temporary directory tree where the package is being built have their
9821 permissions and ownerships set and the package is constructed using
9822 <prgn>dpkg-deb/</prgn>
9824 This is so that the control file which is produced has
9825 the right permissions
9830 <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> must be called after all the
9831 files which are to go into the package have been placed in
9832 the temporary build directory, so that its calculation of
9833 the installed size of a package is correct.
9837 It is also necessary for <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> to
9838 be run after <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> so that the
9839 variable substitutions created by
9840 <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> in <file>debian/substvars</file>
9845 For a package which generates only one binary package, and
9846 which builds it in <file>debian/tmp</file> relative to the top
9847 of the source package, it is usually sufficient to call
9848 <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn>.
9852 Sources which build several binaries will typically need
9855 dpkg-gencontrol -Pdebian/tmp-<var>pkg</var> -p<var>package</var>
9856 </example> The <tt>-P</tt> tells
9857 <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> that the package is being
9858 built in a non-default directory, and the <tt>-p</tt>
9859 tells it which package's control file should be generated.
9863 <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> also adds information to the
9864 list of files in <file>debian/files</file>, for the benefit of
9865 (for example) a future invocation of
9866 <prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn>.</p>
9869 <sect1 id="pkg-dpkg-shlibdeps">
9871 <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> - calculates shared library
9876 This program is usually called from <file>debian/rules</file>
9877 just before <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> (see <ref
9878 id="pkg-sourcetree">), in the top level of the source tree.
9882 Its arguments are executables and shared libraries
9885 They may be specified either in the locations in the
9886 source tree where they are created or in the locations
9887 in the temporary build tree where they are installed
9888 prior to binary package creation.
9890 </footnote> for which shared library dependencies should
9891 be included in the binary package's control file.
9895 If some of the found shared libraries should only
9896 warrant a <tt>Recommends</tt> or <tt>Suggests</tt>, or if
9897 some warrant a <tt>Pre-Depends</tt>, this can be achieved
9898 by using the <tt>-d<var>dependency-field</var></tt> option
9899 before those executable(s). (Each <tt>-d</tt> option
9900 takes effect until the next <tt>-d</tt>.)
9904 <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> does not directly cause the
9905 output control file to be modified. Instead by default it
9906 adds to the <file>debian/substvars</file> file variable
9907 settings like <tt>shlibs:Depends</tt>. These variable
9908 settings must be referenced in dependency fields in the
9909 appropriate per-binary-package sections of the source
9914 For example, a package that generates an essential part
9915 which requires dependencies, and optional parts that
9916 which only require a recommendation, would separate those
9917 two sets of dependencies into two different fields.<footnote>
9918 At the time of writing, an example for this was the
9919 <package/xmms/ package, with Depends used for the xmms
9920 executable, Recommends for the plug-ins and Suggests for
9921 even more optional features provided by unzip.
9923 It can say in its <file>debian/rules</file>:
9925 dpkg-shlibdeps -dDepends <var>program anotherprogram ...</var> \
9926 -dRecommends <var>optionalpart anotheroptionalpart</var>
9928 and then in its main control file <file>debian/control</file>:
9931 Depends: ${shlibs:Depends}
9932 Recommends: ${shlibs:Recommends}
9938 Sources which produce several binary packages with
9939 different shared library dependency requirements can use
9940 the <tt>-p<var>varnameprefix</var></tt> option to override
9941 the default <tt>shlibs:</tt> prefix (one invocation of
9942 <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> per setting of this option).
9943 They can thus produce several sets of dependency
9944 variables, each of the form
9945 <tt><var>varnameprefix</var>:<var>dependencyfield</var></tt>,
9946 which can be referred to in the appropriate parts of the
9947 binary package control files.
9952 <sect1 id="pkg-dpkg-distaddfile">
9954 <prgn>dpkg-distaddfile</prgn> - adds a file to
9955 <file>debian/files</file>
9959 Some packages' uploads need to include files other than
9960 the source and binary package files.
9964 <prgn>dpkg-distaddfile</prgn> adds a file to the
9965 <file>debian/files</file> file so that it will be included in
9966 the <file>.changes</file> file when
9967 <prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn> is run.
9971 It is usually invoked from the <tt>binary</tt> target of
9972 <file>debian/rules</file>:
9974 dpkg-distaddfile <var>filename</var> <var>section</var> <var>priority</var>
9976 The <var>filename</var> is relative to the directory where
9977 <prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn> will expect to find it - this
9978 is usually the directory above the top level of the source
9979 tree. The <file>debian/rules</file> target should put the
9980 file there just before or just after calling
9981 <prgn>dpkg-distaddfile</prgn>.
9985 The <var>section</var> and <var>priority</var> are passed
9986 unchanged into the resulting <file>.changes</file> file.
9991 <sect1 id="pkg-dpkg-genchanges">
9993 <prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn> - generates a <file>.changes</file>
9998 This program is usually called by package-independent
9999 automatic building scripts such as
10000 <prgn>dpkg-buildpackage</prgn>, but it may also be called
10005 It is usually called in the top level of a built source
10006 tree, and when invoked with no arguments will print out a
10007 straightforward <file>.changes</file> file based on the
10008 information in the source package's changelog and control
10009 file and the binary and source packages which should have
10015 <sect1 id="pkg-dpkg-parsechangelog">
10017 <prgn>dpkg-parsechangelog</prgn> - produces parsed
10018 representation of a changelog
10022 This program is used internally by
10023 <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> et al. It may also occasionally
10024 be useful in <file>debian/rules</file> and elsewhere. It
10025 parses a changelog, <file>debian/changelog</file> by default,
10026 and prints a control-file format representation of the
10027 information in it to standard output.
10031 <sect1 id="pkg-dpkg-architecture">
10033 <prgn>dpkg-architecture</prgn> - information about the build and
10038 This program can be used manually, but is also invoked by
10039 <tt>dpkg-buildpackage</tt> or <file>debian/rules</file> to set
10040 environment or make variables which specify the build and host
10041 architecture for the package building process.
10046 <sect id="pkg-sourcetree">
10047 <heading>The Debianised source tree</heading>
10050 The source archive scheme described later is intended to
10051 allow a Debianised source tree with some associated control
10052 information to be reproduced and transported easily. The
10053 Debianised source tree is a version of the original program
10054 with certain files added for the benefit of the
10055 Debianisation process, and with any other changes required
10056 made to the rest of the source code and installation
10061 The extra files created for Debian are in the subdirectory
10062 <file>debian</file> of the top level of the Debianised source
10063 tree. They are described below.
10066 <sect1 id="pkg-debianrules">
10067 <heading><file>debian/rules</file> - the main building script</heading>
10070 See <ref id="debianrules">.
10074 <sect1 id="pkg-srcsubstvars">
10075 <heading><file>debian/substvars</file> and variable substitutions</heading>
10078 See <ref id="substvars">.
10084 <heading><file>debian/files</file></heading>
10087 See <ref id="debianfiles">.
10091 <sect1><heading><file>debian/tmp</file>
10095 This is the canonical temporary location for the
10096 construction of binary packages by the <tt>binary</tt>
10097 target. The directory <file>tmp</file> serves as the root of
10098 the file system tree as it is being constructed (for
10099 example, by using the package's upstream makefiles install
10100 targets and redirecting the output there), and it also
10101 contains the <tt>DEBIAN</tt> subdirectory. See <ref
10102 id="pkg-bincreating">.
10106 If several binary packages are generated from the same
10107 source tree it is usual to use several
10108 <file>debian/tmp<var>something</var></file> directories, for
10109 example <file>tmp-a</file> or <file>tmp-doc</file>.
10113 Whatever <file>tmp</file> directories are created and used by
10114 <tt>binary</tt> must of course be removed by the
10115 <tt>clean</tt> target.</p></sect1>
10119 <sect id="pkg-sourcearchives"><heading>Source packages as archives
10123 As it exists on the FTP site, a Debian source package
10124 consists of three related files. You must have the right
10125 versions of all three to be able to use them.
10130 <tag>Debian source control file - <tt>.dsc</tt></tag>
10132 This file is a control file used by <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn>
10133 to extract a source package.
10134 See <ref id="debiansourcecontrolfiles">.
10138 Original source archive -
10140 <var>package</var>_<var>upstream-version</var>.orig.tar.gz
10146 This is a compressed (with <tt>gzip -9</tt>)
10147 <prgn>tar</prgn> file containing the source code from
10148 the upstream authors of the program.
10153 Debianisation diff -
10155 <var>package</var>_<var>upstream_version-revision</var>.diff.gz
10161 This is a unified context diff (<tt>diff -u</tt>)
10162 giving the changes which are required to turn the
10163 original source into the Debian source. These changes
10164 may only include editing and creating plain files.
10165 The permissions of files, the targets of symbolic
10166 links and the characteristics of special files or
10167 pipes may not be changed and no files may be removed
10172 All the directories in the diff must exist, except the
10173 <file>debian</file> subdirectory of the top of the source
10174 tree, which will be created by
10175 <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> if necessary when unpacking.
10179 The <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> program will
10180 automatically make the <file>debian/rules</file> file
10181 executable (see below).</p></item>
10186 If there is no original source code - for example, if the
10187 package is specially prepared for Debian or the Debian
10188 maintainer is the same as the upstream maintainer - the
10189 format is slightly different: then there is no diff, and the
10191 <file><var>package</var>_<var>version</var>.tar.gz</file>,
10192 and preferably contains a directory named
10193 <file><var>package</var>-<var>version</var></file>.
10198 <heading>Unpacking a Debian source package without <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn></heading>
10201 <tt>dpkg-source -x</tt> is the recommended way to unpack a
10202 Debian source package. However, if it is not available it
10203 is possible to unpack a Debian source archive as follows:
10204 <enumlist compact="compact">
10207 Untar the tarfile, which will create a <file>.orig</file>
10211 <p>Rename the <file>.orig</file> directory to
10212 <file><var>package</var>-<var>version</var></file>.</p>
10216 Create the subdirectory <file>debian</file> at the top of
10217 the source tree.</p>
10219 <item><p>Apply the diff using <tt>patch -p0</tt>.</p>
10221 <item><p>Untar the tarfile again if you want a copy of the original
10222 source code alongside the Debianised version.</p>
10227 It is not possible to generate a valid Debian source archive
10228 without using <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn>. In particular,
10229 attempting to use <prgn>diff</prgn> directly to generate the
10230 <file>.diff.gz</file> file will not work.
10234 <heading>Restrictions on objects in source packages</heading>
10237 The source package may not contain any hard links
10239 This is not currently detected when building source
10240 packages, but only when extracting
10244 Hard links may be permitted at some point in the
10245 future, but would require a fair amount of
10247 </footnote>, device special files, sockets or setuid or
10250 Setgid directories are allowed.
10255 The source packaging tools manage the changes between the
10256 original and Debianised source using <prgn>diff</prgn> and
10257 <prgn>patch</prgn>. Turning the original source tree as
10258 included in the <file>.orig.tar.gz</file> into the debianised
10259 source must not involve any changes which cannot be
10260 handled by these tools. Problematic changes which cause
10261 <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> to halt with an error when
10262 building the source package are:
10263 <list compact="compact">
10264 <item><p>Adding or removing symbolic links, sockets or pipes.</p>
10266 <item><p>Changing the targets of symbolic links.</p>
10268 <item><p>Creating directories, other than <file>debian</file>.</p>
10270 <item><p>Changes to the contents of binary files.</p></item>
10271 </list> Changes which cause <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> to
10272 print a warning but continue anyway are:
10273 <list compact="compact">
10276 Removing files, directories or symlinks.
10278 Renaming a file is not treated specially - it is
10279 seen as the removal of the old file (which
10280 generates a warning, but is otherwise ignored),
10281 and the creation of the new one.
10287 Changed text files which are missing the usual final
10288 newline (either in the original or the modified
10293 Changes which are not represented, but which are not detected by
10294 <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn>, are:
10295 <list compact="compact">
10296 <item><p>Changing the permissions of files (other than
10297 <file>debian/rules</file>) and directories.</p></item>
10302 The <file>debian</file> directory and <file>debian/rules</file>
10303 are handled specially by <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> - before
10304 applying the changes it will create the <file>debian</file>
10305 directory, and afterwards it will make
10306 <file>debian/rules</file> world-executable.
10312 <appendix id="pkg-controlfields">
10313 <heading>Control files and their fields (from old Packaging Manual)</heading>
10316 Many of the tools in the <prgn>dpkg</prgn> suite manipulate
10317 data in a common format, known as control files. Binary and
10318 source packages have control data as do the <file>.changes</file>
10319 files which control the installation of uploaded files, and
10320 <prgn>dpkg</prgn>'s internal databases are in a similar
10325 <heading>Syntax of control files</heading>
10328 See <ref id="controlsyntax">.
10332 It is important to note that there are several fields which
10333 are optional as far as <prgn>dpkg</prgn> and the related
10334 tools are concerned, but which must appear in every Debian
10335 package, or whose omission may cause problems.
10340 <heading>List of fields</heading>
10343 See <ref id="controlfieldslist">.
10347 This section now contains only the fields that didn't belong
10348 to the Policy manual.
10351 <sect1 id="pkg-f-Filename">
10352 <heading><tt>Filename</tt> and <tt>MSDOS-Filename</tt></heading>
10355 These fields in <tt>Packages</tt> files give the
10356 filename(s) of (the parts of) a package in the
10357 distribution directories, relative to the root of the
10358 Debian hierarchy. If the package has been split into
10359 several parts the parts are all listed in order, separated
10364 <sect1 id="pkg-f-Size">
10365 <heading><tt>Size</tt> and <tt>MD5sum</tt></heading>
10368 These fields in <file>Packages</file> files give the size (in
10369 bytes, expressed in decimal) and MD5 checksum of the
10370 file(s) which make(s) up a binary package in the
10371 distribution. If the package is split into several parts
10372 the values for the parts are listed in order, separated by
10377 <sect1 id="pkg-f-Status">
10378 <heading><tt>Status</tt></heading>
10381 This field in <prgn>dpkg</prgn>'s status file records
10382 whether the user wants a package installed, removed or
10383 left alone, whether it is broken (requiring
10384 re-installation) or not and what its current state on the
10385 system is. Each of these pieces of information is a
10390 <sect1 id="pkg-f-Config-Version">
10391 <heading><tt>Config-Version</tt></heading>
10394 If a package is not installed or not configured, this
10395 field in <prgn>dpkg</prgn>'s status file records the last
10396 version of the package which was successfully
10401 <sect1 id="pkg-f-Conffiles">
10402 <heading><tt>Conffiles</tt></heading>
10405 This field in <prgn>dpkg</prgn>'s status file contains
10406 information about the automatically-managed configuration
10407 files held by a package. This field should <em>not</em>
10408 appear anywhere in a package!
10413 <heading>Obsolete fields</heading>
10416 These are still recognized by <prgn>dpkg</prgn> but should
10417 not appear anywhere any more.
10419 <taglist compact="compact">
10421 <tag><tt>Revision</tt></tag>
10422 <tag><tt>Package-Revision</tt></tag>
10423 <tag><tt>Package_Revision</tt></tag>
10425 The Debian revision part of the package version was
10426 at one point in a separate control file field. This
10427 field went through several names.
10430 <tag><tt>Recommended</tt></tag>
10431 <item>Old name for <tt>Recommends</tt>.</item>
10433 <tag><tt>Optional</tt></tag>
10434 <item>Old name for <tt>Suggests</tt>.</item>
10436 <tag><tt>Class</tt></tag>
10437 <item>Old name for <tt>Priority</tt>.</item>
10446 <appendix id="pkg-conffiles">
10447 <heading>Configuration file handling (from old Packaging Manual)</heading>
10450 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> can do a certain amount of automatic
10451 handling of package configuration files.
10455 Whether this mechanism is appropriate depends on a number of
10456 factors, but basically there are two approaches to any
10457 particular configuration file.
10461 The easy method is to ship a best-effort configuration in the
10462 package, and use <prgn>dpkg</prgn>'s conffile mechanism to
10463 handle updates. If the user is unlikely to want to edit the
10464 file, but you need them to be able to without losing their
10465 changes, and a new package with a changed version of the file
10466 is only released infrequently, this is a good approach.
10470 The hard method is to build the configuration file from
10471 scratch in the <prgn>postinst</prgn> script, and to take the
10472 responsibility for fixing any mistakes made in earlier
10473 versions of the package automatically. This will be
10474 appropriate if the file is likely to need to be different on
10478 <sect><heading>Automatic handling of configuration files by
10483 A package may contain a control area file called
10484 <tt>conffiles</tt>. This file should be a list of filenames
10485 of configuration files needing automatic handling, separated
10486 by newlines. The filenames should be absolute pathnames,
10487 and the files referred to should actually exist in the
10492 When a package is upgraded <prgn>dpkg</prgn> will process
10493 the configuration files during the configuration stage,
10494 shortly before it runs the package's <prgn>postinst</prgn>
10499 For each file it checks to see whether the version of the
10500 file included in the package is the same as the one that was
10501 included in the last version of the package (the one that is
10502 being upgraded from); it also compares the version currently
10503 installed on the system with the one shipped with the last
10508 If neither the user nor the package maintainer has changed
10509 the file, it is left alone. If one or the other has changed
10510 their version, then the changed version is preferred - i.e.,
10511 if the user edits their file, but the package maintainer
10512 doesn't ship a different version, the user's changes will
10513 stay, silently, but if the maintainer ships a new version
10514 and the user hasn't edited it the new version will be
10515 installed (with an informative message). If both have
10516 changed their version the user is prompted about the problem
10517 and must resolve the differences themselves.
10521 The comparisons are done by calculating the MD5 message
10522 digests of the files, and storing the MD5 of the file as it
10523 was included in the most recent version of the package.
10527 When a package is installed for the first time
10528 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> will install the file that comes with it,
10529 unless that would mean overwriting a file already on the
10534 However, note that <prgn>dpkg</prgn> will <em>not</em>
10535 replace a conffile that was removed by the user (or by a
10536 script). This is necessary because with some programs a
10537 missing file produces an effect hard or impossible to
10538 achieve in another way, so that a missing file needs to be
10539 kept that way if the user did it.
10543 Note that a package should <em>not</em> modify a
10544 <prgn>dpkg</prgn>-handled conffile in its maintainer
10545 scripts. Doing this will lead to <prgn>dpkg</prgn> giving
10546 the user confusing and possibly dangerous options for
10547 conffile update when the package is upgraded.</p>
10550 <sect><heading>Fully-featured maintainer script configuration
10555 For files which contain site-specific information such as
10556 the hostname and networking details and so forth, it is
10557 better to create the file in the package's
10558 <prgn>postinst</prgn> script.
10562 This will typically involve examining the state of the rest
10563 of the system to determine values and other information, and
10564 may involve prompting the user for some information which
10565 can't be obtained some other way.
10569 When using this method there are a couple of important
10570 issues which should be considered:
10574 If you discover a bug in the program which generates the
10575 configuration file, or if the format of the file changes
10576 from one version to the next, you will have to arrange for
10577 the postinst script to do something sensible - usually this
10578 will mean editing the installed configuration file to remove
10579 the problem or change the syntax. You will have to do this
10580 very carefully, since the user may have changed the file,
10581 perhaps to fix the very problem that your script is trying
10582 to deal with - you will have to detect these situations and
10583 deal with them correctly.
10587 If you do go down this route it's probably a good idea to
10588 make the program that generates the configuration file(s) a
10589 separate program in <file>/usr/sbin</file>, by convention called
10590 <file><var>package</var>config</file> and then run that if
10591 appropriate from the post-installation script. The
10592 <tt><var>package</var>config</tt> program should not
10593 unquestioningly overwrite an existing configuration - if its
10594 mode of operation is geared towards setting up a package for
10595 the first time (rather than any arbitrary reconfiguration
10596 later) you should have it check whether the configuration
10597 already exists, and require a <tt>--force</tt> flag to
10598 overwrite it.</p></sect>
10601 <appendix id="pkg-alternatives"><heading>Alternative versions of
10602 an interface - <prgn>update-alternatives</prgn> (from old
10607 When several packages all provide different versions of the
10608 same program or file it is useful to have the system select a
10609 default, but to allow the system administrator to change it
10610 and have their decisions respected.
10614 For example, there are several versions of the <prgn>vi</prgn>
10615 editor, and there is no reason to prevent all of them from
10616 being installed at once, each under their own name
10617 (<prgn>nvi</prgn>, <prgn>vim</prgn> or whatever).
10618 Nevertheless it is desirable to have the name <tt>vi</tt>
10619 refer to something, at least by default.
10623 If all the packages involved cooperate, this can be done with
10624 <prgn>update-alternatives</prgn>.
10628 Each package provides its own version under its own name, and
10629 calls <prgn>update-alternatives</prgn> in its postinst to
10630 register its version (and again in its prerm to deregister
10635 See the man page <manref name="update-alternatives"
10636 section="8"> for details.
10640 If <prgn>update-alternatives</prgn> does not seem appropriate
10641 you may wish to consider using diversions instead.</p>
10644 <appendix id="pkg-diversions"><heading>Diversions - overriding a
10645 package's version of a file (from old Packaging Manual)
10649 It is possible to have <prgn>dpkg</prgn> not overwrite a file
10650 when it reinstalls the package it belongs to, and to have it
10651 put the file from the package somewhere else instead.
10655 This can be used locally to override a package's version of a
10656 file, or by one package to override another's version (or
10657 provide a wrapper for it).
10661 Before deciding to use a diversion, read <ref
10662 id="pkg-alternatives"> to see if you really want a diversion
10663 rather than several alternative versions of a program.
10667 There is a diversion list, which is read by <prgn>dpkg</prgn>,
10668 and updated by a special program <prgn>dpkg-divert</prgn>.
10669 Please see <manref name="dpkg-divert" section="8"> for full
10670 details of its operation.
10674 When a package wishes to divert a file from another, it should
10675 call <prgn>dpkg-divert</prgn> in its preinst to add the
10676 diversion and rename the existing file. For example,
10677 supposing that a <prgn>smailwrapper</prgn> package wishes to
10678 install a wrapper around <file>/usr/sbin/smail</file>:
10680 dpkg-divert --package smailwrapper --add --rename \
10681 --divert /usr/sbin/smail.real /usr/sbin/smail
10682 </example> The <tt>--package smailwrapper</tt> ensures that
10683 <prgn>smailwrapper</prgn>'s copy of <file>/usr/sbin/smail</file>
10684 can bypass the diversion and get installed as the true version.
10685 It's safe to add the diversion unconditionally on upgrades since
10686 it will be left unchanged if it already exists, but
10687 <prgn>dpkg-divert</prgn> will display a message. To suppress that
10688 message, make the command conditional on the version from which
10689 the package is being upgraded:
10691 if [ upgrade != "$1" ] || dpkg --compare-versions "$2" lt 1.0-2; then
10692 dpkg-divert --package smailwrapper --add --rename \
10693 --divert /usr/sbin/smail.real /usr/sbin/smail
10695 </example> where <tt>1.0-2</tt> is the version at which the
10696 diversion was first added to the package. Running the command
10697 during abort-upgrade is pointless but harmless.
10701 The postrm has to do the reverse:
10703 if [ remove = "$1" -o abort-install = "$1" -o disappear = "$1" ]; then
10704 dpkg-divert --package smailwrapper --remove --rename \
10705 --divert /usr/sbin/smail.real /usr/sbin/smail
10707 </example> If the diversion was added at a particular version, the
10708 postrm should also handle the failure case of upgrading from an
10709 older version (unless the older version is so old that direct
10710 upgrades are no longer supported):
10712 if [ abort-upgrade = "$1" ] && dpkg --compare-versions "$2" lt 1.0-2; then
10713 dpkg-divert --package smailwrapper --remove --rename \
10714 --divert /usr/sbin/smail.real /usr/sbin/smail
10716 </example> where <tt>1.02-2</tt> is the version at which the
10717 diversion was first added to the package. The postrm should not
10718 remove the diversion on upgrades both because there's no reason to
10719 remove the diversion only to immediately re-add it and since the
10720 postrm of the old package is run after unpacking so the removal of
10721 the diversion will fail.
10725 Do not attempt to divert a file which is vitally important for
10726 the system's operation - when using <prgn>dpkg-divert</prgn>
10727 there is a time, after it has been diverted but before
10728 <prgn>dpkg</prgn> has installed the new version, when the file
10729 does not exist.</p>
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